


½ Ranma

by PataHikari



Category: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-08-27
Packaged: 2018-02-05 01:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1800985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PataHikari/pseuds/PataHikari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of a slightly different Ranma Saotome, with a slightly different fiance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ancient Chinese Curse

The relationships between a man and a woman are complex and difficult to understand by even the wisest of people.

Boy meets girl.

Girl meets boy.

The entangling relationships, love and friendship. Rivalry and excitement. For two people, they're about to obtain all of these.

* * *

_"Bringing Ranma from China._

_-Genma"_

The message on the postcard was a simple one. Yet to the middle aged man reading it, it was the most important message in the world. Tears of joy streamed down his cheeks.

"At last, at long last." The man was called Tendo Soun, and this letter was one he had been waiting for. "Kasumi!" He shouted into the kitchen.

"Yes Father?" A pleasant looking young woman stepped out of the kitchen.

"We're having a family meeting." He said happily.

"Another one?" Kasumi nodded, "Very well then, I'll get the others." She wondered, for a moment, what had brought him to call one this time.

Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad.

At that point rain clouds gathered and water began to pour from the sky.

"Oh my... I hope that's not an omen." Kasumi said quietly.

**Episode 1: Ancient Chinese Curse**

It was raining in Nerima. A rather heavy storm, the roads and sidewalks were drenched. If it weren't for his umbrella he would be completely soaked. He was a young man, with black hair that was slightly longer in the back then the front. He wore a black button up shirt and jeans. He was slowly walking down the wet sidewalk, a calm expression on his face. He wasn't paying much attention to the world around him, which is why he was caught off guard from someone crashing into him from behind.

"Oh crap! Sorry!" The guy helped him up.

"Ow... geez, some reflexes I..." He muttered, his front was now wet and dirty. "Great..."

"Sorry." The guy who ran into him said, smiling uneasily. He was a teenager about his age, with a red Chinese shirt and black pants that looked a little too small on him. His black hair was tied back in a pigtail, and he was soaking wet. "I wasn't paying attention to where-"

"Hey, I wasn't paying attention either, so OK?" He shrugged, no reason to hold a grudge against the guy.

"OK well gotta go!" The teenager ran past him. A moment later, his eyes widened as a panda jumped down in front of him.

The panda, moving at speeds that he didn't know pandas could go, followed the teenager.

"...crazy." He shook his head.

**BRRING BRRING**

"Hello?" He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Hey, Daddy's called a family meeting, come back from your latest play fight and get back home now."

"Fine."

* * *

The rain was starting to clear as he arrived home.

A large and spacious home. The style was old fashioned, a wooden sign was hanging by the door.

_"Tendo Dojo."_

He walked inside.

"I'm home!" he announced as he walked through the entryway to the living room. A peaceful room overlooking the backyard, a koi jumping out of the pond. Sitting at the table was his family.

His father, Soun, his oldest sister, Kasmui, and...

"Hey, the jock's here." The short haired girl said sarcastically.

His second older sister, Nabiki.

"Glad to see you too." He rolled his eyes, sitting down across from her.

"Excellent," Soun said with a smile, "Now that Yuushi's here, we can get to business."

"So what is it this time, daddy? Someone challenge the dojo to mortal combat?" Nabiki asked.

"...no." Soun said.

"Oh! Perhaps we're broke again." Kasumi said.

"No."

"You have cancer and am now going to divide our inheritance?" Yuushi added.

"No! None of those!" Soun shouted, "It's a matter of family honor."

"So it's Yuushi's problem then." Nabiki brushed a strand of hair from her face, "So why call all of us?"

"Because we're all part of the family." Kasumi said, "Right Father?"

"Correct." Soun turned to stare at Yuushi. "Now, my son. You are truly my heir, correct?"

"Yeah...?" Yuushi said. "I haven't lost in ages, and I think I've learned Anything Goes pretty well."

"Of course." Soun smiled, "Yuushi, my son. I have wonderful news for you."

"This is going to be interesting." Nabiki whispered to Kasumi, who nodded with a smile.

"Over ten years ago, I met with my oldest and dearest friend, Genma Saotome! We got to talking... the two branches of the Anything Goes school had been separate for far too long." Soun put his arm around Yuushi's shoulder. "Me and Saotome realized that we could fix this. You see, fortune had smiled upon us."

"Uhhh..." Yuushi did not like the amused looks on Nabiki and Kasmui's faces. They had guessed what was going on.

"Saotome has a beautiful daughter, and I have a handsome son! And so, like that, we arranged a marriage between our families! My son, Yuushi would marry his daughter Ranma! And then the schools would be united at last!" Tears began to fall.

Nabiki burst out laughing.

"What the hell Dad!" Yuushi shouted. "Married? To some random girl!"

"Not random at all. She's the daughter of my oldest and best friend." Tears streamed down his face, his fist clenched as fire erupted behind him. "The two schools shall join to create the greatest martial art in the world!"

"..." Yuushi sighed. "Whatever dad..."

"Oy! Hey! Let me go you damn fool!"

"Who's that?" Nabiki stood up, "Is that Ranma... no it's a guy..." She stepped into the hallway. "Geeahhh!" She immediately ran back, Yuushi! Dad! It's a-"

A panda stepped into the family room, a teenage boy held over its shoulder. With little ceremony it deposited the boy onto the ground in front of Soun.

"Um... what is this?" Nabiki examined the scene.

A panda carrying a boy into the room. Not normal. The boy looked nervous and mildly annoyed.

 _Hey, it's that guy from earlier._ Yuushi thought.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Kasumi asked politely. This seemed to startle the boy out of his nervous daze.

"Oh hey." He spoke... oddly. "The name's... uhh..." The panda poked him in the back, "Oh geez fine you dumb animal." He coughed. "OK. The name's Ranma Saotome, nice to meet you, I guess."

...Ranma?

"Wait..." Soun examined him, "I thought Ranma Saotome was a girl?" Yuushi noticed Ranma wincing at this.

"Nope..." Nabiki leaned over and pushed her hand against his chest. In response Ranma jumped back, covering his chest with one arm.

"D-don't do that!" He shouted. "How'd you like it if I grabbed your chest! Maybe you're not a girl either, huh?"

"Umm... well..." Soun had not been ready for this. In his mind, it would have been simple. His son would have acted on family honor, married Ranma, and all would be good.

Now...

"Well, come here boy!" Soun grabbed Ranma's shoulder. "As you can see, I have two fine young daughters! Kasumi and Nabiki, tell me my boy, which one would you like to have as your wife!"

"Not me." Nabiki said flippantly, walking away.

"Well, I don't really like younger men." Kasumi stood up, "Excuse me, I have some work to do." She left the room too.

"I think they shot you down Dad." Yuushi said, immediately afterword Soun slumped to the ground, grasping his son's hand...

"Yuushi, my son. please help me convince one of your sisters to marry Ranma." He asked with tears in his eyes.

"...yeah, no." Yuushi grabbed Ranma's arm. "You deal with this yourself dad, I don't want to be the one to tick off Kasumi."

"Um..." Ranma looked down at Yuushi's hand.

"Come on. My name's Yuushi Tendo." He smiled, "You do marital arts, right? Let's go to the dojo."

For the first time today, Ranma smiled, "Sure."

* * *

They stood in the dojo. Ranma himself was in a loose standing stance, to the untrained eye. But Yuushi saw the way his legs had shifted, and his arms were placed just so. It was an Anything Goes stance, one meant to lead the opponent to underestimate them.

Yuushi didn't take that stance, he preferred a more basic one. After all, this is just sparring.

"Ready?" He asked. Ranma nodded. "OK!" With a shout he threw a quick punch at Ranma.

Next thing he new he was on the ground.

"What the... oww.." He pushed himself up and turned around. Ranma was staring at him, a smirk on his nface. "Uhh..." He closed his eyes for a moment and thought.

When he had punched Ranma, he had grabbed his hand and used a Tai Chi maneuver to pull him over and throw him down behind him.

In the space of a second? "Wow, you're good."

"Of course I am." Ranma answered naturally.

"Well then." He jumped up, "Time to get serious then!" He upped the speed of his punch, this time Ranma wouldn't be able to use that trick.

He didn't need to, Ranma instead just seemed to turn to the right, avoiding his attack!

 _No way._ Yuushi thought. _This guy's insanely good._ He pulled his arms and legs together, _I'm going to have to go all out on him!_

Then, Ranma went on the offensive. It was like a dozen blows struck him in two dozen places in an instant. Ranma's arms and legs moved in a dance. Yuushi struggled to block them, but half of them still go through. _Damn it, I can't stay defensive!_ Defense was the weakpoint of Anything Goes, the style preferred to overwhelm with powerful offense force. Ranma understood this, which is why he was going all out immediately. _Well then, I'll match him!_ It was the tactic that had won his first real fight. He pressed foreword, smashing past Ranma's offense! Ranma's eyes widened with surprise as Yuushi's fist moved towards his face. This being a sparring match, he would stop just before the fist connected, but the point would be made.

Except Ranma decided to not play along with that. His face vanished as he jumped above Yuushi.

"...what the..!" Yuushi spun around, but then he froze.

Ranma's fist had stopped, just millimeters in front of his face.

"..." Yuushi stared at Ranma. Then he burst out laughing. "Damn! Man, you're good!"

Ranma laughed softly. "Yeah, I am."

Yuushi patted Ranma on the shoulder. "Anyways, I guess it'll be a while till we convince Dad to stop this. But don't worry, no way Nabiki or Kasumi want to get married right now."

"Yeah." Ranma laughed nervously, "No way I want to get married to a gi- to anybody right now either."

* * *

Kasumi glanced at the panda. Such a polite animal, he had calmly waited as she filled the tea kettle with water and set it on the stove. "I didn't know pandas could write." She said.

The panda scribbled into a notebook, tore out the page and handed it to her.

_"I'm special."_

"I can tell." Kasumi picked up the kettle, "It's ready Mr. Panda."

The panda took the kettle and unceremoniously dumped the hot water over its head.

Kasumi's jaw dropped. "Oh... wow."

"Thank you young lady." The man who had once been a panda said.

* * *

Ranma poured the cold water over him. "Geez... it's cold." He sighed, glancing at the hot bath tub. "I should probably tell the truth." It wasn't right to hide it, especially since if he knew his dad then they'd be stuck here for a few weeks.

He slipped into the furo... "Ahhhh..." His voice changed tone...

* * *

Yuushi threw off his shirt. "Geez..." His arms, legs, and chest were all sore. Ranma had done a number on him. Pulling off his pants and underwear. "A bath would be good." He opened the door to the bath. And froze.

A new person was in the bathroom, a girl. She was drying herself off, a towel being rubbed in her bright red hair.

They both had frozen, staring at each other. The girl was short... and very beautiful. Her figure was curved in the right places, and her chest...

 _"Ahhhhiieeeee!"_ She screamed, picking up a bar of soap. "Out!" It flew at high speeds towards him.

"Gah!" Yuushi slammed the door shut just as the bard of soap exploded against the door.

* * *

"There's some crazy girl in the bathroom!" Yuushi ran into the living room, a towel wrapped around him.

"Nice show bro." Nabiki quipped.

"Not now Nabiki! She might be some-"

"Ahem."

The girl was standing in the doorway, wearing Ranma's clothing. It, while slightly loose, fit her much better then it had on Ranma.

"Who are you?" Nabiki asked.

"...Ranma Saotome." She sighed.

* * *

The family had once again gathered. Only this time there were two new people.

A man in a white gi and bandanna, and the red headed girl.

Yuushi stared at her. _Just who is she?_ The girl looked over to him, her face shifted to a scowl and looked away again.

"So who are you two?" Nabiki asked.

"And why were you... a panda?" Kasumi added.

"Yes. Hmm. Me and Ranma have quite a story to tell." He grasped the girl's arm, "This is my daughter, Ranma. Now as to the change... allow me to demonstrate!" Suddenly he threw the girl.

"Damn you old ma-" She landed in the koi pond. Then, suddenly the guy jumped out. "You stupid worthless old _**jackass!"**_ He charged towards the man, only to be suddenly stopped by a kettle full of hot water emptying over him, then the girl returned.

"Wow." Nabiki said.

"What sort of magic is this Saotome?" Soun asked, and Yuushi realized he must be Genma Saotome, Ranma's father.

"It truly is a tragedy Tendo." Genma nodded, seemingly struggling to hold back tears. "We never could have known what the trip to China would bring."

**WHAM!**

"I told you it would be a bad idea." Ranma had slammed Genma's face into the table. "I mean, I can read Chinese, you can't. Yet I recall you saying 'It is the duty of the man to guide the trip Ranma!' Please." She pulled a pamphlet out of a pocket in Genma's gi, "Out of retarded pride, he didn't even show me the pamphlet that would have warned us about all this crap!"

"Foolish girl!" Genma sat up, seemingly having recovered from his concussion, "The path of the martial artist is fraught with peril! Or would you rather be a housewife!"

_**WHAM!** _

Genma met the floor this time.

"Let me see that." Nabiki took the pamphlet. She began reading it aloud, translating the Chinese to Japanese.

_"Cursed Martial Arts Training Ground. Junsenkyo, the Pools of Sorrow._

_Take note that, under no circumstances, should you even consider coming to this place. Seriously, it's a terrible idea."_

_"All who come to Junsenkyo are cursed, there is no escape. Turn back while you still can."_

Nabiki looked up from the pamphlet. "You didn't quite think this through, did you Mr. Saotome."

"It's a tragic fate, yes! But we are strong! We shall live through it!" Genma stood up again, "The path-"

WHAM!

Genma flew into the wall.

"If you had given me the map, none of this would have happened!" Ranma screamed.

"So... how does the curse work?" Kasumi asked.

Ranma sighed. "Well... it starts like this..."

* * *

"Here we are Ranma, the last leg of our journey." Genma looked down upon the valley. "Junsenkyo. The legendary training ground."

"It's bamboo poles and water." Ranma glanced at Genma, "We could duplicate this with a few kiddie pools and sticks."

Genma sighed. Where had he gone wrong? Daughters, even martial artist ones, should respect and love their fathers. Yet Ranma responded with pretty much everything he did and said with sarcasm. "Be grateful I'm even taking you here girl!" he snapped. "I swear," he muttered, "If I had a son-"

Ranma's elbow met Genma's head. "Please don't go on that spiel again."

"Ah welcome to Junsenyko." The guide welcomed them as they entered the valley. "Honored Sir and Madam, if you would follow me I will be able to guide you safe-"

"Come on Ranma!" Genma ran past the guide, jumping up onto one of the poles, "It's training time!"

"Right!" Ranma smiled as she jumped up onto a pole across from Genma, "Ready old man?" The two jumped at each other, exchanging punches and kicks in the air. "Ah-ha!" Ranma made a decisive blow, kicking Genma down into a pool.

"No! No poor honored sir!" The guide shouted. "You fall in Spring of Drowned Panda! Very tragic story of panda who drown there many years ago!"

Suddenly, a panda jumped out of the water!

"...what the...?" Ranma stared as the Panda kicked her and knocked her down.

"No not you too honored Madam!" The guide watched as she fell into one of the pools. "You fall into Spring of Drowned Man!"

"Guuah!" Ranma gasped for breath as she swam to the surface. Why did her clothing feel so tight all of a sudden?

"Very tragic story of young man who drowned in spring many years ago." The guide said to her.

"What're you talking about..." Ranma paused, her voice felt different. She looked down at herself.

And realized that it was now **himself.**

_**"Aeeehiiiaahhh!"** _

* * *

"Basically whenever I get hit with cold water, I become a guy. Hot water makes me normal." Ranma sighed. "It's annoying."

"Well, is that all?" Soun sat up and patted Ranma on the back. "It's not that big a deal! You can still marry a Tendo!"

"Of course he can." Nabiki pushed Yuushi foreword.

"Congratulations!" Kasumi helped.

"Hey! What about you two, she's half guy!" Yuushi snapped.

"She's mainly a girl, I'm sure she's most interested in you." Nabiki commented, glancing at Ranma. "Right?"

"Humph." Ranma folded her arms, "I know he got a good look."

"Me? What about you miss 'I'll take a bath without telling anybody!'" Yuushi stood up, "I bet you were hoping for a peak!"

"What!" Ranma's eyes narrowed.

"I'm right, aren't I? You little pervert!"

"Oh please." Ranma smirked. "I saw you, and compared to say my guy form... on a scale of one to ten, you're a three." She started laughing. _Oh man I got him goo-_

_**KAWHAM!** _

Ranma was forced against a wall by a table, having been hit with it by Yuushi.

"Please shut up." A blushing Yuushi growled.

"Owww..." Ranma mumbled.

"I'm going to my room." He announced, glaring at Soun. "Good night dad."

"Brother." Nabiki said.

"What!"

"Behind you."

Yuushi turned around, Ranma was now holding the table. She did not look happy. "Oh cra-"

_**SLAMBAM! CRACK!** _

"Jerk!" Ranma screamed, the table cracking in two upon contact with Yuushi's head.

"You started it!" Yuushi picked up the half of the table on the floor.

"Please! And here I thought you were a nice guy!"

"What do you know! I thought the **same thing!"**

_**BAM SLAM KABAM!** _

The two fell unconscious at the same time, the remains of the table falling around their heads.

"...I think they'll make a lovely couple, don't you Tendo?" Genma pulled out a bottle of sake and started pouring some into a cup, passing it to Soun.

"Indeed." Soun took the cup and sipped from it. "Truly these shall be interesting times."

"But of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ranma: 乱眞 "Chaotic Truth."
> 
> Yuushi: 勇士 "Courageous Warrior"


	2. Captain of the Kendo Club

A dozen training dummies, standing silently in the cool air.

They were all aligned perfectly, ready to be used.

It was barely after dawn, and yet there was a young man upon the grounds. He weapon held perfectly in his hands, his eyes closed, his body at peace.

"I strike!" He shouted, and with a blur of movement attacked! In the space of a second, he was on the other side of the training dummies.

A moment passed, and all twelve dummies slid apart, cut in half by a single attack.

"Perfect." He smiled, clenching his fist in triumph. "Soon Tendo, soon..." He spoke with righteous anger, "Soon I shall have my revenge!"

**Episode 2: Captain of the Kendo Club**

"Nnnn where's breakfast Mom..." Ranma mumbled as she woke up. "Oh..." She sat up, stretching out on the futon. She looked around, her dad wasn't around. Good. "What a dream." She rubbed her head, she had a headache. "I had gotten engaged to a _jerk."_ She walked out of the room she was staying in...

And ran straight into Yuushi Tendo.

"...god damn it." Ranma glared at the boy, to her annoyance he glared right back. "You're not a nightmare."

"Good morning to you too." He rolled his eyes. "Come on, you dad told me to get you."

"Right." Ranma wondered why he didn't wake her up like he usually did. She followed him downstairs to the family room. Everyone was gathered around a new table, including her dad. Breakfast was being served, it was a traditional Japanese breakfast, rice and miso soup.

"Good morning Ranma." Kasumi said, smiling at the girl.

"Good morning." Ranma looked around the table. The only empty spot was next to where Yuushi was sitting. Sighing, Ranma sat down, and began to eat. "Mmm... hey this is pretty good."

"Thank you." Kasumi's smile got a little wider.

"Hey can you show me the recipe?" Ranma asked, "It's pretty good."

"Of course I'd be glad to."

"Thanks!"

"Wait," Yuushi glanced at Ranma, "You can _**cook?"**_ An instant later a chopstick hit him in the forehead.

"Of course I can cook!" Ranma said,. "Why wouldn't I be able to? You have any idea what it would be like traveling with **him,** " She jerked her thumb at Genma, would be like if I couldn't?"

"It just feels too feminine for you." He shrugged.

"..." Ranma sighed, "Yuushi."

"Yes?" He said with an innocent smile.

"Die." She slammed her now empty bowl onto his head.

Yuushi grabbed the bowl and shoved it in her face. "Overreact much?"

"Can you two **not** kill each other at breakfast?" Nabiki interjected before the two were about to start punching each other.

Ranma and Yuushi froze, glancing at Nabiki.

"Thank you." She stood up, "I'm going to school."

"Speaking of school..." Kasumi reached into her apron, pulling out a peice of paper. "Ranma, you've been transferred to Yuushi and Nabiki's school."

Ranma took the paper, "I have?" She glanced at Genma, who nodded, unable to speak as his mouth was full of rice. She sighed. "Fine. Geez..."

* * *

Ranma slowly trailed behind Yuushi. They were walking down the street. Yuushi on the sidewalk, Ranma on the fence.

 _"I need to follow you to school, OK?"_ She had said. He had just nodded.

And now they were walking to Furinkan High in silence.

Finally, Ranma spoke up."We are _**not**_ getting married." She stopped walking, and a second later Yuushi stopped as well.

"Of course." He turned his head to look up at her. "We'll get out of this as soon as possible. So let's not bring it up, OK?"

"Right." Ranma said, "We're strangers."

"Strangers."

* * *

They walked through the front gate, the school wasn't different from any other Japanese high school that Ranma had seen.

"Ah, Tendo, you have come." Except for the boy in the hakama sitting in the middle of the entryway. His eyes opened, and he quickly stood up. "The time has come!" He was holding bokken.

Yuushi looked annoyed. "What is it this time Kuno?"

"This time? _**This time?**_ Tendo! Justice and righteousness needs no excuse to come forth! I am Heaven's Instrument! Today, I shall strike you down!" He sounded very confident.

"Hey…" Ranma spoke up, "Far from me to interrupt, but who are you?"

"Oh great, she started him up." Yuushi mumbled.

"Who am I?" The boy said, "I shall gladly explain to a fair maiden." He continued, thrusting his bokken towards the sky. "I am Heaven's Instrument. The Sword of Righteousness. The Warrior of Truth! I am in an endless battle against evil and treachery! The Captain of the Kendo Club, I am Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder Furinkan High!" Thunder sounded through the air, and a bolt of lightning struck behind him.

"Um, Kuno." Yuushi interrupted.

"Yes?"

"You're the _Vice_ -Captain of the Kendo Club, **I'm** the Captain."

"Silence!" Kuno pointed his bokken dramatically at Yuushi, "The office of Captain is rightfully mine!"

"Then you really shouldn't have bet the title in that match of ours." Yuushi shrugged.

"Your trickery will not succeed today Tendo!" Kuno raised his bokken, "I strike!" He rushed towards Yuushi, in a second he was in front of him, "Fall by my blade!" he swung down.

Yuushi stepped to the side, concrete exploded where the bokken connected, Yuushi shifted behind Kuno, and with a shout hit him in the back with a palm strike, then a kick. Kuno flew through the air, hitting a wall, embedding himself slightly into it. "Sorry Upperclassman, I need to go to class."

"Does this happen often?" Ranma asked, walking over to his side.

"Once a week or so." Yuushi shrugged.

Kuno pulled himself away from the wall. "That knave…"

"Geez, annoying I imagine." Ranma said.

"Really…"

Kuno jumped up, charging towards Yuushi, "I shall defeat you!" He shouted, swinging his bokken at Yuushi.

Yuushi's turned his head, seeing the bokken rushing down towards him. _Great this is going to hurt_ He still attempted to dodge it. However, he braced himself for a painful hit.

It never came.

"What trickery is this?" Kuno stared at his stopped bokken.

Ranma was standing in front of Yuushi, the bokken grasped in her hand. She had completely stopped Kuno's attack. "Hey. It's not nice to hit people with their back turned." She pulled the bokken down, pulling Kuno to the ground with it. "Come back later, OK?"

Kuno, bug-eyed, just nodded.

"Thank you." A rain drop hit Ranma. "Oh geez, it's raining." She grabbed the surprised looking Yuushi by the arm. "Come on, inside before it starts, take me to class."

* * *

"Good morning." Ranma bowed to her class, "I'm Ranma Saotome, I'll be here for a while. So please be kind to me." She said with a gentle smile.

"….." The guys jaws dropped. The girls were trying to figure out how this new student stood in relation to them.

"There's a seat next to Tendo, sit there please Ms. Saotome." The teacher said.

"OK." Ranma sat down, not even noticing the stares.

* * *

"Nabiki Tendo!" Kuno slammed his hand on her desk, "I demand an explanation!"

"…to what, Kuno-baby?" Nabiki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do not toy with me woman." Kuno's eyes narrowed. "For while your heart is just as black, nay perhaps even blacker, then that of your brothers, I know you are the one to turn to in this school when information is required!"

"You sure do know how to complement a lady Kuno-baby." Nabiki held out her hand, "Ten thousand yen please."

"Here!" Kuno pushed the bills into her hand.

"Ask away." Nabiki counted and pocketed the cash.

"Who was that fair skinned red headed girl with your brother this morning?"

"Fifteen thousand yen." Nabiki held out her hand again.

"I-" Kuno stuttered, "I already paid you woman!"

"You paid to **ask** me a question. Now you need to pay me to _**answer**_ it." Nabiki didn't lower her hand. "Fifteen thousand yen please."

"Fine! May your ill gotten funds torment you in the hereafter!" Kuno shoved more bills into her hand.

"Thank you Kuno-baby." Nabiki smiled at her money. "Her name is Ranma Saotome. She's a student of Anything Goes. Her dad and my dad arranged a marriage between her and Yuushi."

"An arranged marriage?" Kuno paused, "I see… yes. The poor maiden. To be entrapped to an engagement to such an honorless swine like Tendo!"

"Whatever you say Kuno-baby." Nabiki had, once, tried to correct Kuno's view on reality. It had lead to an hour long headache and no progress whatsoever. Nowadays she played along; it was more amusing that way.

* * *

Ranma stuck a hand under the shower. _Hot water, good._ She stepped into the shower, P.E was starting in a few minutes and she wanted to be clean.

"Hello?" A girl next to her tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Ranma said as she rubbed shampoo into her hair.

"You're the new girl, right? I'm Yuka." She smiled, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Ranma said.

"So, people saw you hold back Kuno like that. That was pretty cool." Yuka said, "I mean, he's a really good fighter and you dealt with him in a second!"

"Eh, he's decent. He's too attached to the weapon though. If my sword had been restrained like that I would have let go and punched the guy who did it."

"I don't think anybody would expect something like that Ranma." Yuka giggled. "You might even be better than Tendo!"

"Oh. I **know** I'm better then Yuushi, kicked his sorry butt yesterday." Ranma laughed.

Yuka smiled, "You sound a little familiar with him, know him?"

"Eh? Well I'm kinda living with him so I guess-"

 **"You're** _ **living**_ **with Yuushi Tendo!"** A girl overhearing Ranma screamed.

An instant later a mob of girls surrounded her. "What the he-"

" _Why are you with him?"_

_"What's he like at home?_

_"What do you do with him?"_

_"Have you slept with him!"_

Ranma was being pushed against the wall by the force of the pointless questions. They just kept on demanding, even as Ranma tried to answer. Finally, she took a deep breath and shouted, "It's none of your damn **business!"**

* * *

"She's pretty good looking."

"Yeah… but her personality and other things are a bit off." Yuushi replied.

At a glance, nobody would think Hikaru Gosunkugi would be Yuushi Tendo's friend. The two could not be more different. Yuushi was athletic, popular, and outgoing. Hikaru on the other hand was nerdy, somewhat weak, and very shy. Yet for some reason they hit it off.

They, having finished P.E already, were now watching the girls play baseball.

Ranma was at bat.

"Really?" Hikaru looked her over, "She seems pretty nice."

"Believe me, looks can be deceiving." Yuushi sighed. "If you ask me, she's a violent perverted thug of a girl." He gave her a glance as she swung the bat, "Even if she **is** good looking."

 _ **CRACK!**_ Ranma hit the ball with the bat… and the bat shattered, the ball flying towards the fence. The ball flying **through** the fence. Finally it stopped.

 **CHUNK.** After making contact with Yuushi's forehead.

"Yuushi!" Hikaru's jaw dropped as his friend passed out.

* * *

"Just… go home Ranma." Yuushi glared at the girl. Sure, she looked apologetic **now.** But he was too annoyed to care.

"Hey, I'm not going home till you do." Ranma sighed, "Plus that bump looks nasty." She pointed to the icepack now taped to Yuushi's forehead.

"It's not as bad as it looks."

"It looks pretty bad." Ranma was still following Yuushi as they walked around to the back of the school. "Where are you going anyways?"

"Kendo club, remember? I'm the captain of it,"

"Oh, right…" Ranma fell silent.

The Kendo club was held in a rather large dojo. It had been donated to the school when Kuno had been captain. Inside the dozen kendo club members were already practicing, Kuno in partiular was swinging his bokken with a feirocity that was almost impressive.

"Hey Captain."

"What's up?"

"What's with the ice pack?"

"Long story." Yuushi said, "Come on! Let's start practice!" He said with a smile.

"Hmm..." Ranma sat down on a bench near the door. "Don't mind me."

"Fine." Yuushi walked into a changing room.

* * *

Slipping on his Kendo gear, he winced as the mask lightly touched the bump on his head. "Stupid Ranma..." He went back to the main training area. Kuno was, as usual, lording over the less experienced members. Ranma was sitting in the bench, passively watching the matches. He picked up a shinai and walked into the room. "Oh, Upperclassman, you are remembering to take it easy on the new guys, right?"

Kuno noticably winced. "I am merely helping my underclassmen get better...Captain." He said that last word as if in **pain.**

"Oh and here I thought you were just beating on them." Ranma commented.

"Miss Saotome, I'm sure perhaps to someone new to kendo it may seem that way, but rest assured I am the best in the school! I know how to train!" Kuno laughed. "So worry not fair maiden." He thrust his shinai out, "When I, the Blue Thunder of furinkan high am done, these shall be kendo masters!"

"Uh-huh." Ranma stood up, "Oy, El Capi-tan." She waved to Yuushi.

"Huh?"

"Can I join?"

"You...?" Yuushi paused, "Hmm... well I don't-"

"Of course not!" Kuno suddenly interjected, "As the Vice-Captain, I strongly object!"

Yuushi raised an eyebrow, that was the first time Kuno had ever actually called himself the Vice-Captian. "Why?"

"Kendo is a sport of men! Delicate maidens can not participate in it!" Kuno waved his shinai around wildly.

"Uh-huh..." Ranma walked down to the changing room, "Tell you what Kuno, if you beat me, I won't join. but if I win, I join. Fair?"

"...very well. I shall do my best to gently disuade you of this, Miss Saotome." Kuno said in a gentle tone.

"Uhhh..." Yuushi glanced at Ranma as she walked past him. She was **smiling.** A few minutes passed, and she came back. Wearing the full kendo gear, she picked up a shinai and slung it over her shoulder.

"Ready to start Upperclassman?" She asked sweetly.

"Of course." Kuno pointed at a club member. "Emiya! You be the referee."

"Um, sure."

The two lined up, their shinai held in perfect form.

"Begin!"

"I strike!" Kuno swung his shinai, a powerful and quick blow aimed for Ranma. _CLAC_ K! Ranma blocked it easily. Kuno moved closer, swinging again. _CLACK!_ Once again Ranma blocked it. "You are rather skilled, Miss Saotome!"

Yuushi rolled his eyes, He's holding back on her. Way too much.

"You're rather unskilled, Mr. Kuno." Ranma quipped, and swung her shinai. **THWAP**! It collided with Kuno's chest.

"Point!"

"...huh?" Kuno stared at where his chest had been struck. Ranma didn't heed his confusion, and attacked again. **THWAP!** And again. **THWAP!** And again. **THWAP!**

Again and again and again, her shinai a blur.

**THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!**

**THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!** **THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!** **THWAP!THWAP!THWAP!**

Finally Ranma stopped, slung the shinai over her shoulder, and walked away.

"Ummm... Saotome wins?"

Yuushi's jaw dropped. "What the hell? That wasn't- That... I mean..."

Ranma glanced at him. "Problem, Captian?"

"Uhh..."

"Anyways, the schedule over there says practice is over. Let's head home." Ranma walked back into the changing room.

"Right..." Yuushi walked over to Kuno. "Wow Kuno, she did a number on you."

Kuno just stood there, motionless.

"Kuno?" Yuushi poked him in the chest. Kuno then tilted back, and fell to the ground, unmoving.

* * *

The endless strikes. The vibrant hair. The beauty and wonder.

She... she...

"Ranma!" Kuno's eyes shot open.

Ranma. A goddess in human form. A beautiful tigress, the one he had been waiting for! His true love! But wait! Ranma was engaged to the vile Yuushi Tendo! He wept at the injustice. But then, a revelation came to him.

Why Ranma had come, why she had fought him. Why... it all made sense!

"She's crying out for help! She's asking me to save her!" Kuno burst out laughing. "Of course... of course! Ranma, my love! I shall free you from the vile grasp of Yuushi Tendo!"

* * *

In front of the gate to the Tendo house, two people simultaneously sneezed and shuddered in pure revulsion.

"That was weird." Ranma said.

"Yeah..." Yuushi pushed open the door...and out leapt Genma.

"Ranma! You're late! It's training time!" He announced, before grabbing Ranma and throwing her into the yard.

"OK..." Yuushi shrugged, walking inside as Ranma and Genma battled in the air. With a loud splash, water errupted fom the Koi pond.

"Damn it old man! I had gone the entire day without becoming a guy!"

* * *

Ranma sighed, rubbing his hair dry.

More time stuck in this body, this weird and awkward body.

"How do they stand it?" He had often wondered. Everything felt so slow and clumsy. The only advantage he had noticed was that he was a little stronger, but that was not enough to offset everything else wrong with this curse.

"Excuse me." A voice behind him said.

"Gu-waha!" Ranma turned around, in a fighting stance. Damn it I'm getting sloppy!

It was a short, rather unattractive man. He wore a dark gi and bandanna wrapped around his head. All in all, like a ninja.

"Have you seen Ranma Saotome?" The ninja asked.

"Uh, I'm Ranma Saotome."

The ninja looked him over. "...oh dear. Master is getting desperate, isn't he." He sighed, "Oh well, I must not be judgmental." He handed a letter to Ranma. "Farewell." he vanished.

"Weird..." Ranma opened the letter, labeled _"From Tatewaki Kuno."_

* * *

"Hey, that Kuno guy sent me this letter." Ranma threw it on the table.

Nabiki picked it up. "Meet me outside the Kendo Club." She flipped the letter around. "That's it?"

Ranma laughed. "I kicked his rear today, maybe he wants a rematch." He clenched his fist. "I figure teaching the jackass a lesson in bullying would be enough. But it seems he wants **more** bruises."

"What **did** you do Ranma?" Nabiki asked. This sounded both amusing and profitable.

"Eh I'll explain later." Ranma brushed it off, "As soon as some hot water's ready I'll go beat him up again."

* * *

Sure enough, Kuno was standing outside the Kendo club, his gaze focused on the setting sun.

"Oy, Kuno." Ranma walked onto the grounds, "You sent me a letter?"

"Ah... Ranma." Kuno turned to face her. "I am glad we were able to meet here."

"Yeah yeah" Ranma nodded, "Look? Can we get this over with?"

"Or course." Kuno reached behind his back. "Ranma, I had no idea what you coming would bring. One day has changed my life!"

"...what?"

Kuno threw the object behind his back at her.

A bouquet of roses.

"What...?"

"Ranma. I swear my eternal love to you. Upon my honor, I will free you from that honorless Tendo." He smiled gently. "Farewell, my love." he walked stoically away.

Ranma stared at the roses. Stared at the leaving Kuno. Stared at the setting sun.

**"What?"**


	3. Love Panic!

It was Ranma's wedding day. Taking place in a beautiful church on a perfect sunny day. Everyone was there, her mother, her father, her cousins. Even her old friends from school. She wore a beautiful white wedding dress. Made of the softest fabric imaginable, it clung perfectly to her. A white veil was draped gently over her face, hiding her smile as she walked slowly up the aisle. She looked to the right, her mother was crying with joy as she walked over to the groom.

Wait... who was the groom?

He turned around, "Ranma my love!" It was Kuno.

Kuno.

**Kuno**.

"Wait.. no! Who the hell thought this-" Ranma tried to protest.

"You may kiss the bride." The priest ominously spoke.

"Let us connsumate our love Ranma!" Kuno jumped at her.

**"Nooooooooooooo!"** Ranma screamed, sitting up straight, her blanket flying off her futon.

**Episode 3: Love Panic!**

How? Why? What is _wrong_ with that guy?

"I beat the crap out of him, insult him, humilate him in front of his peers, and he proclaims his love to me!" Ranma mumbled to herself as she scrubbed herself clean in the bath. For some reason she felt really dirty today. "OK... think Saotome." How to get rid of her current romance problems?

Yuushi wasn't much of one. It was obvious that he wasn't interested in her and vice versa. But this Kuno guy. Insane. She had just pegged him as some arrogant jerk, and found it amusing to pull him down a peg.

The roses were not the expected result.

"Whatever." Ranma jumped out of the tub. "I'll deal with it later." She opened the bath door...

And was face to face with Yuushi.

"..."

"..."

* * *

**SMACK!**

**THUMP!**

"Pervert!"

"Learn to put a sign up you maniac!"

Kasumi looked up from her morning tea, "They get along well, don't you think Nabiki?"

Nabiki stared at her sister, pouring her coffee into her favorite mug. "Umm... you really think so?"

"Oh yes." Kasumi smiled serenely.

A moment later Ranma and Yuushi came downstairs, Yuushi having a red slap mark on his face. While Ranma had a rather impressive looking bump on her head.

"Good morning." Kasumi said like nothing was wrong.

"Morning." The two said in unison.

"Tea?" Kasumi suggested.

"Thanks." Ranma took a cup from her, she scooped some rice and fish into a bowl. "Looks good Kasumi."

"Thank you."

"Yeah it-" Ranma paused, picked up her bowl and chopsticks with one hand, and suddenly thrust up her other hand up in a fist.

Just in time for it to collide with the face of Genma dropping down from the ceiling. Nabiki and Yuushi promptly spit out their coffee and tea.

"Nice try old man!" Ranma's fist shifted to a grip on Genma's collar, and flung him into the koi pond.

"Growlf!" The panda that emmrged shook his fist at Ranma.

Nabiki and Yuushi looked up at the perfectly smooth ceiling. "How did he...?" They both said at once.

"Mr. Saotome is very good at what he does." Kasumi finished her tea, seemingly nonplussed about the whole incident.

* * *

Ranma turned the combination lock on her locker, slowly clicking it into the right position, she finally opened it. She was then promptly buried from the avalanche of notes that fell on her. "Huh?" Ranma pulled herself out from under the pile. "What are these?" She unfolded one of the notes.

_"Ranma, please go out with me."_

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Ranma unfolded another note.

_"Please be my girlfriend Miss Saotome!"_

Ranma unfolded more notes.

_"Can we have lunch together?"_

_"How about me and you go out?"_

_"How do you feel about other girls Miss Saotome?"_ (Ranma's eye twitched at this one.)

Ranma dropped the notes in his hand, staring at the massive pile of what she now knew to be love notes. "It never rains Saotome." She muttered to herself, "It **pours."**

* * *

Class wasn't much different. Her desk was home to a comparable pile of love notes. The homeroom teacher just shrugged when Ranma looked pleadingly at him.

Yuushi whistled in surprise, taking his seat in front of Ranma's. With a sigh, Ranma sat down and began sorting through the piles of notes.

* * *

"E-excuse me!" A guy jumped in front of her as the lunch bell rang. "Miss Saotome!"

Ranma sighed, she had a bad feeling about this. "Yes?"

"Can I-"

"Wait!" Another boy ran over to her. "I wanted to ask-"

"No way!" A third guy jumped into the conversation, "I want to-"

Ranma stood up, and walked away.

* * *

"Finally..." Ranma trailed behind Yuushi, she just felt tired. It had been a non stop series of notes, people taking to her. Confessions, and wild proclamations.

And Yuushi had just smiled at it all, the jerk.

She wanted to get to the club, swing some shinai at people, and go home. So distracted by her thoughts, Ranma didn't notice when Yuushi stopped. So she ran into him, both of them nearly stumbling over.

"Watch it." Yuushi said.

"Shut up," Ranma growled. "What's going on?" She looked over to the clubhouse.

Kuno was standing in front of it. Next to him was an absurdly large wreathe of flowers, as big as he was. "Ranma my Love" was written on a banner attached to it. In his hands was a heart shaped box, likely filled with chocolates. "Ranma! I bring gifts for you!" He ran over and thrust the chocolates in Ranma's face. "For you, my darling."

Ranma took the box and opened it. It was indeed chocolate. She examined it for a brief moment. Then she shoved the entire open box into Kuno's face. "I'm sorry, I'll have to refuse." She walked past him, the box slowly sliding down Kuno's now chocolate smeared face.

* * *

"Uhh... Captain?"

"Yes Ikari?" Yuushi said, looking up from the papers that pretty much ever club leader has to deal with occasionally.

"It's about Ranma..."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Umm..." He pointed to the practice mat.

"Yeah what?" Yuushi took a look... "Ranma..." His jaw dropped. Ranma was **glowing**. A cold blue glow, almost like fire. It wrapped around her entire body, even extending to the shinai in her hands. The rest of the club was keeping their distance. "Wow... impressive battle aura..." He sighed, "What about her?"

"She wants to spar with someone."

Yuushi paused, "Hmm... Kuno?"

"Already did Captain."

"What happened?"

Ikari sighed, "Well... he was forced to leave practice early."

"I see." Yuushi picked up his shinai, "I'll go play with her."

* * *

"Oy, Ranma."

Ranma gave the source of the voice a glare that would have killed lesser men. Yuushi was, miraculously, unscathed. "What do you want?" She snarled.

Yuushi pointed his shinai at her, "As Kendo club Captian, it's my duty to guage the skill of the new member."

"I see." Ranma smiled, at last, some stress releif! "OK then, El Capi-tan, I'll do it." She stepped back, holding her shinai in front of her. "Ready?"

Yuushi slowly got into position, stretching his arms and legs. Finally, after what felt like hours, he held his shinai in the right position, "We'll practice until I say to stop. Begin."

Ranma attacked first, throwing her entire body into the attack. Her shinai almost bent with the force she swung it with. Yuushi just stood there, obvlious to the beating she was about to give him!

**CLACK!**

Her shinai connected... with Yuushi's. "Huh?"

Yuushi pulled away his weapon, swinging at Ranma! She quickly deflected it. Yuushi smiled behind his mask, "Your form is sloppy."

"What?" Ranma growled.

"I said, your form is sloppy. You're not using **Kendo** to attack. You're using Anything Goes, mostly. There's a little Kendo in there, but not much. When was the last time you actually used Kendo?" He swung threee more times in rapid sucession, Ranma blocked them all.

"I was ten." Ranma answered, swinging another powerful blow. Yet again Yuushi blocked it.

"Wow, you're really out of practice." Yuushi blocked hers, "You may be faster then me, Ranma, but since you're using a style you're inexperienced with, I can easily predict what you're doing." Four more attacks of his were deflected. "Your speed is the only thing keeping me from beating you, they can cover the dozen hole s in your defense I see." Ranma threw out half a dozen strikes, yet Yuushi blocked them all. "So basically, Ranma, if you want to be in my club..." He sped up suddenly, a thrust! Ranma was surprised to find his shinai touching her throat. "Get back into practice. You're a talented person, so I'm sure you'll get to speed quickly." He pulled away his weapon, "Stop." His arms dropped to his side, and he gave Ranma a calm smile. "Feeling better now?"

"...what?"

Yuushi shrugged, "You were really stressed out, I figured I'd calm you down."

"Calm me down?" Ranma glared at him.

"Don't get the wrong idea." Yuushi turned around, "I just didn't want you beating up the other club members."

"Fine." Ranma sat down her shinai, "Whatever." She suddenly felt drained of energy for some reason.

* * *

Once Yuushi was out of Ranma's sight, he collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. "What the hell is up with that girl?" It had taken every ounce of speed and strength he had to match Ranma, while she was using a weapon she was out of practice with. Another minute and he would have passed out and very likely gotten the crap beaten out of him.

"Captian...?" Ikari peered into the room.

"I'm fine, just catching my breath..." He brushed it off. Yet, one small part of him shuddered as he realized what would happen when Ranma got **good** at Kendo.

* * *

"Done..." Returning to the Tendo Dojo, Ranma had immediately went into her room. She then began sorting through the massive note pile. After an hour, she had finally separated them into two piles. One with names, and one without names. "OK... now to deal with these." She stood up, and the door opened.

"Ranma!" Genma barged in, "What are you-" He stopped and stared at the two piles, "Ranma what are ouumph!" He was silenced by Ranma's fist.

"Damn it old man! Haven't all these years taught you to never barge into a girl's room?" She shouted.

Genma, undeterred, moved over to the piles. "What are these girl!" He snatched one out of the pile. "...a love note!" He clenched it in his fist. "I thought I raised you better then that!" Faux tears began fall from his eyes, "Oh where did I go wrong? My daughter is cheating on her fiance!" He was knocked into the wall via a drop kick from Ranma.

"Is it just me or have you become even stupider lately?" Ranma grabbed him by the collar, "I didn't ask for this crap!"

"Really?" Genma looked almost thoughtful for a minute. "I see, I'm sorry Ranma."

"What?" Ranma let go of her father out of shock, "You **apologized?"**

"It's OK my daughter." Genma patted Ranma on the head. "I understand. I'll go speak to Tendo about this." He left the room.

"Wait a-" Ranma stopped, sighed, and sat back down. "He's going to do something stupid again." Years of living with Genma Saotome had given her an acute sense of such things.

* * *

Yuushi finished the last question on his math homework, the numbers finally stopped dancing in his head as he packed the papers into his bag for tomorrow. "Glad that's over with."

_thump thump thump_

"What's that?" Yuushi stood up, it sounded like someone running toward his doo-

**BAM!** The door few open!

_**"Yuuuuuushiiii Tennndooo!"**_ Soun charged into the room. His eyes were blazing, his entire body almost aflame. Shortly behind him was Genma. **"What have you been _doing!"_**

"Wha-wha what!" Yuushi found himself backed against a wall. "Dad! Calm down! What the hell did I do!"

"Hah... hah..." Soun took a few deep breaths. "Yuushi! Why are you letting your fiance be pursued by other men!"

"What?" Yuushi stared at his father, "What are you talking about?"

"I saw them!" Genma jumped in frount of Soun, "All those... indecent letters! To your fiance!"

"What." Yuushi said. "Do you mean those annoying little notes? Honestly, those aren't a big deal, all-"

"You have to do is defend your fiance!" Both Genma and Soun shouted at once.

"Wait a minute I-"

"No excuses boy!" Genma jabbed a finger in Yuushi's chest, "What kind of man doesn't defend his fiance's honor?"

Yuushi's eye twitched, and without warning grabbed Genma by the collar. "I..." He picked up Genma, "...don't have..." he flung him out the conveniently open window, _**"...a fiance!"**_ A faint splashing sound was heard. "Hmmm that was oddly cathartic."

"What... what has gotten into you Son!" Soun's jaw dropped, Yuushi had never done anything like that before! What had happened to the sweet, gentle boy? (Soun, of course, was subconsciously editing out all the examples of his son's temper.). His shock and blubbering was interuppted by Yuushi grabbing his own father by the collar. "You... you wouldn't dare throw your own father out the window, would you?"

Yuushi looked thoughtful for a moment.

* * *

Soun had to admit, his son had impressive strength and ability. To pick up a full grown man and throw him at just the right angle to hit the Koi Pond, that took some skill. Of course, he was now soaking wet and staring up out the window as said son looked down at him.

"I am **not** marrying Ranma Dad! She can deal with boy problems herself!" He shouted, slamming his window shut.

Soun glanced to his right at the panda sitting next to him in the pond. "My own child has no respect for me."

Genma held up a wooden sign. _"You get used to it."_

* * *

Ranma looked up from her work, someone was knocking on the door. "Come in." A slight frown came to her face as Yuushi stepped in. "What is it?"

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Ranma was laying down on the floor, an open notebook and a stapler in front of her, and three piles of notes, one behind her, one to the right and a small one to the left "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Yuushi picked up one of the notes in the small pile. Stapled to it was a second note.

_"Sorry, I'm not interested._

_-Ranma."_

He picked up a few more, each one was a similar rejection, almost tailor made for that one note. He raised an eyebrow at one that said "Sorry, I don't like girls that way" but said nothing. "Why are you doing this?"

"Huh?"

"Just ignore them." Yuushi sat down on the floor across from Ranma. "They'll stop if you just don't pay attention to them after a while."

Ranma looked up at him, "That's not right. These guys took out the time to write these, it dosn't seem fair to ignore them." She got back to scribbling more replies.

"But why? They all pissed you off, right? Why do if if they're making you mad?"

Ranma didn't look up from her writing, "It was mostly sheer numbers that annoyed me. But it was that Kuno creep that got me mad."

"Oh." Yuushi said, "So you're seriously going to reply to all of these?"

"Actually a little less then half, the others didn't leave a name." Ranma shrugged, "Don't really get why they bothered if they didn't want to leave a name."

Yuushi stared at Ranma, stared at the notes, stood up, and left the room.

A minute later, he came back with a notebook and pencil in his hands, he layed down across from Ranma, and opened the notebook. "I'll help."

"...read them aloud, and I'll tell you what to write." She said, and Yuushi nodded.

* * *

Nabiki was mildly surprised to find Yuushi and Ranma following her to school. She always went early, but her brother rarely did. Nabiki didn't know why they were heading over early, but she suspected it had something to do with the second bag Ranma was carrying. She walked to school slightly ahead of them, they were both silent. It was strange, the two seemed to have worked some sort of agreement, because they hadn't even midly insulted each other since the night before. No matter, if it was anything important, she'd figure it out.

"Ra-Ra-Ramna!"

The Yuushi and Ranma stopped. Kuno was standing in front of the school gate. He always came this early, so Nabiki wasn't surprised, but the other two were.

"Ranma! You're here early!" He immediately dashed past Nabiki, grabbing Ranma's hand. "My love, my goddess! It is truely a blessing to see you this early morn-" He was knocked out by a swift uppercut.

"It's way too early for this." Ranma muttered, she and Yuushi heading into school. (Ranma taking care to step on Kuno)

Nabiki looked down at the unconscious Kuno. "Well, Kuno-baby, don't think she likes you." No responce, to be expected. "Not that that'll stop you, likely." Nabiki began thinking about how to make money from this.

* * *

"This is going to take forever." Yuushi slid another note into a locker.

"Hey, you volunteered to help." Ranma said.

"Not going to stop..." He muttered, "I said I'd help so I will."

"Ranma!" They were interrupted by Kuno, he was exceptionally good at regaining consciousness. "My love! What menial task have you been forced into!" His 'righteous outrage' face was on.

"Damn it..." Ranma gritted her teeth, "This... moron!" She looked up at Kuno, "Yuushi? Can you handle this for a while? I'm going to make this idiot realize some things."

Yuushi shrugged, "Sure."

"Thanks." She walked past Kuno, "Meet me outside, Upperclassman." She sneered.

* * *

Nabiki was surprised to see Ranma leading Kuno to the side of the building. "What's she doing?" Her curiosity won over, and she followed them.

* * *

"OK... Kuno..." Ranma closed her eyes and tried to find the right words.

"Yes?" He asked, almost like an eager puppy.

"OK. Forget delicacy." Ranma shook her head. "Kuno. I don't like you."

"Huh?"

"In fact," Ranma continued, not giving a chance for him to speak. "I'm starting to **hate** you. You understand? So listen up, if you ever want any chance to ever be on my good side, stop this 'my love my goddess' crap. Because otherwise I will never even concider liking you, loving you is eternally out of the question."

Kuno was silent for a moment, "I understand Ranma..."

She smiled, "Good so can-"

Kuno continued to speak, "Tendo put you up to this!" He clenched his fist in rage, "How dare he. First he entraps you in a false engagement, now he tries to force you to annul our love? Our passion!" He drew his bokken, "Say no more my goddess! I shall smite the cur Tendo, and then you shall be free!" He burst out laughing... and Ranma kicked him in the face.

"You... you _**don't get it!"**_ She screamed, "I can't believe anyone could be so moronic and deluded! I mean... I thought that Pops was dumb, but wow you take the cake!" Ranma ranted, her foot pushing deeper into Kuno's face. "You are the worst-" She suddenly found herself covered in cold water

* * *

"Don't dump the wash pail out the window! What if you hit someone?"

"Please, it's way to early for anyone to be out there."

"OK, yeah I guess so."

* * *

"Hmm?" Kuno peeled his love's foot from his face. "Have you ceased your act, my-" Kuno froze.

The person standing before him was not his Goddess! It was a man! A man in Ranma's clothing, with dark hair and sinister eyes. He looked surprised, but Kuno had no doubt that was a mere facade. "Who are you?" He pointed his sword at the man, "Where is my Goddess!"

"Oh geez..." The man said.

Laughter could be heard, a woman's laughter. "Who's there?" Kuno shouted. A moment later the mercenary Nabiki Tendo emmerged from the shadows, still laughing.

"Morning Kuno-baby." She said, laughter still in her voice, she glanced at the man, "Want me to explain?"

The man nodded.

"Two thousand yen." Nabiki never showed kindness, not for free at least.

"Seriously?"

"Unless you'd rather explain it." Nabiki said with a smile.

"...fine." The man pulled out a somewhat feminine looking wallet, handing Nabiki two thousand yen bills.

"OK then!" Nabiki walked over to Kuno. "OK, Kuno-baby."

"Yes?"

"Ranma and this guy are, well, one in the same. Body, soul, and mind. Got it?" Nabiki explained to him.

"One in..." Kuno's eyes widened as he realized the horrid truth!

* * *

_Deep in the darkest dungeon in the foulest pit, Ranma lay in chains. Her body battered and bruised, yet her spirit not broken. Her tormenter came down. Tendo! The Pigtailed Man! Twisted beings lower then beasts, their dark lusts for Ranma were great. Yet her will was greater!_

_"Sooon you will be ours!" Tendo cackled wickedly._

_"Once my magic comes over you, I will own you! Body, soul, and mind!" The Pigtailed Man cackled as he worked his foul magicks._

_"Nooooooooo!" Ranma sobbed, "Please... save me Tatewaki! Please!"_

* * *

Ranma waved his hand in front of Kuno, "He's been like this for a whole minute."

"It takes a minute for Kuno-baby to process new information." Nabiki explained, "He should be ready to act right about... now."

_**"You fiend!"**_ Kuno shouted, "Release my love at once!" He charged at Ranma, bokken ready to strike.

"Man I'm good." Nabiki smirked. This would be entertaining.

* * *

"Done." Yuushi slipped the last note into the locker. "I wonder how Ranma's doing." He wondered. Kuno, in his experience, was very difficult to convince of things that contridicted with his own conclusions. Then again, perhaps Ranma had simply opted to beat any affection he might have for her out of him.

"Die you vile Warlock!" Kuno's voice rang through the campus.

"What?" Yuushi walked outside, and saw a male Ranma dodging a dozens of sword thrusts from Kuno. Kuno was going all out, so the wall behind Ranma was buckling from the air pushed by Kuno's thrusts alone. "Hot water..." He remembered, "Gotta go get some." He ran to the nurse's office.

* * *

_Damn it damn it damn it._ Ranma thought as he avoided Kuno's strikes. It really was an annoying dilemma. He couldn't approach because Kuno's mini shockwaves created a wall. As a girl he might have been able to get past it. But not with this slow and bulky male body But he was fast enough to avoid all of his attacks. So essentially this was a stalemate. Until one of them ran out of stamina, or something changed the battle, they were stuck like this. Ranma figured he'd outlast Kuno, so the fight was his.

But man it was boring.

"Why exactly are you trying to kill me?" He asked in a casual tone.

"Do not try your deceit you weaver of dark magic!" Kuno shouted, "I will not fall! It will take more then that to make I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High-"

**THUNK**

And so, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High fell, thanks to a full tea kettle to the head.

"There you go." Yuushi walked over to Ranma, "Hurry, people are coming. I suggest you change before you risk getting seen."

"Right... uh, thanks." Ranma poured the water over his head. "This guy is the biggest moron I've ever seen." She said.

Students began walking into the front gate, a few people noticed the remains of a fight, and in a minute a small crowd had gathered around Ranma, Yuushi, and Kuno.

"Nnn... I fight on!" Kuno stood up dramatically.

"Welcome to reality, you idiot." Ranma growled.

"Ranma! You are well!" He turned around and tried to hug her, but Yuushi stood in the way.

"Man, leave her alone Kuno, she's had enough of your crap."

The small crowd began to murmr.

Kuno's eyes narrowed. "Tendo..." He clenched his fist, "I see..." He spun around and faced the rapidly growing crowd. "Here me, people of Furinkan!" He shouted, "From this day forth, the engagement between Ranma Saotome and Yuushi Tendo is annulled! I, the Blue Thunder, have declared it so! With this illlegal and immoral engagement gone, Ranma shall, at last, be free to date me! That is my goal! My destiny!"

The crowd exploded with whispers and gossip spreading. Yuushi and Ranma's mouths were hanging open, as the full magnitude of what Kuno had said washed over them.

Most people would't pay attention to the "annuled" part. Now the "engagement" part, that was prime rumor material. In a matter of hours the word would be Yuushi impregnated Ranma and was marring her to preserve honor.

Ranma and Yuushi looked at each other, and simultaneously said the phrase that perfectly summed up their feelings on this whole affair.

"God Damn it."


	4. Old Friend?

"Get out of the way!" A villager shouted. "It's loose!"

_**"Mrrroooo!"**_ The giant bull bellowed, charging down the street.

The small village used the unusually large bull to attract people to the small rural village. They called it "The World's Largest Bull." Today, however, it seemed to be causing more harm than good. It rampaged through the streets, knocking down signs and fences. "Everyone move!" A villager with a cattle prod shouted, desperately trying to shock the bull into submission. "I knew we should have made it The World's Largest Steer!"

A girl was walking down the road, her face buried in a map, seemingly oblivious to the approaching rampaging beast.

"Young lady! Get out of the way!" The villager shouted.

"Hmm?" The girl looked up from her map, no emotion showing as she saw the charging bull. She reached over into her backpack, and pulled out an umbrella.

"Lady! Get out of the-"

**THUD**

The bull stopped.

"What the...?"

The bull was unconscious, having collided head first with the girl's umbrella. She stood there, quite calm still. She lowered her umbrella and stored it in her backpack again, walking over to the villager.

"How did you... what...?"

The girl thrust the map in his face.

"Huh?" He looked at it. It appeared to be a map of some Tokyo ward. Nerima...? "Miss what are you-"

"Can you direct me to Furinkan High?" She asked, more sincerity in her voice then he thought possible.

"Ummm... He looked around him. The nearest school was a kilometer away. And Furinkan didn't ring any bells. "I'm sorry but..."

"I see." She pulled the map away. "Sorry to bother you sir." She bowed slightly, turning around and walking away. "You know," She said, "I didn't know Nerima had so much farmland in it."

* * *

**Episode 4: Old Friend?**

Three days.

Three days and Ranma still found herself correcting the insane rumors that had sprouted.

"No I am not pregnant with Yuushi's child."

"No he didn't kidnap me and ravish me."

"No we didn't get married on a drunken lark in Vegas, I've never even been to Vegas."

"What? No we're not members of a polygamous cult. Where the hell did you hear that from?"

Ranma just wanted to eat her lunch in peace. Without any insane questions, or worse, the crazy girls who screamed about how she "stole" Yuushi.

"You look tired Ranma." Yuka said, she and her friend Sayuri had taken to eating lunch with her. As some of the handful of girls who weren't obsessed with the guy, Ranma found them pleasant company.

"It's a whole pile of crap. If I'm not being bugged by guys, it's girls freaking out! Why the hell is he so liked?"

Sayuri shrugged, "I think it's the whole mystery of it all."

Yuka nodded, "It used to be a lot worse, the girls who like him really like him. They would help him with homework..."

* * *

_Yuushi walked to the front desk, handing the teacher the math assignment. "Here you go." He said._

_The teacher looked up at him. "Tendo... I have already have received your homework... six times." He held up six assignments, each with his name on it._

_"..." Yuushi sighed._

* * *

"They'd make lunch for him..."

* * *

_"Ummm..." Yuushi stared at the massive pile of lunchboxes. A dozen girls glaring at each other from behind the pile._

_"Can I have some?" Hikaru asked._

* * *

"I hear some even went to his house!"

* * *

_Yuushi opened the door to his room... and promptly shut it._

_"I didn't see that." He said. Before slowly opening the door again, seeing that he did in fact see it._

_A girl, one from a year below him, was lying on his bed._

_Naked._

_"Kasumi! Nabiki! Which one of you thought it would be funny to let her in!" He shouted._

_His two sisters laughed._

* * *

"Whatever, he couldn't possibly have gone through even near the same amount of crap I've gone through." Ranma finished her lunch.

"Yeah, probably." The other two girls nodded.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Yuushi asked, following Ranma as she walked towards the front gate.

"Home." She said flatly.

"But you still have practice!" Yuushi grabbed her shoulder.

Ranma grabbed his hand and squeezed... **hard**. Yuushi winced in pain. "Listen you slug. I want one day without hearing that... that..." She seemed to struggle for the words to settle to describe how she felt about Kuno, finally settling on English curse words, " _...shithead son of a bitch_ proclaim his love!" She let go of Yuushi's hand, Yuushi wondered if there was anything broken. "So I'll see you later!" She stormed off to the front gate.

Yuushi shook his hand, dismissing the pain. "Wait! Ranma!" He ran over to her... Suddenly, Ranma grabbed Yuushi by the arm and jumped away. He was dragged through the air as Ranma moved three meters in an instant. "What the-" The concrete in where Ranma had been standing exploded, chunks flying through the air, dust obscuring his vision. "What is that!"

Ranma's eyes narrowed, letting go of Yuushi. She stepped out to the dust cloud. "Who's there?" She shouted.

The dust cleared, and in the newly formed crater was a girl.

A tall girl, incredibly tall. Yuushi could see that she was easily taller than any girl he had seen, and was likely taller than most guys, including himself. She wore a beige tank top and baggy black pants. Her black hair was tied roughly in a ponytail by a tiger striped bandanna. In her hand, stuck in the ground, was a large red umbrella. She pulled it out, looking beyond the crater she had created. She pointed the umbrella at Ranma. "At long last, Ranma! I've found you. "A fanged grin formed on her face, her amber eyes shining. "We settle things now!"

Yuushi looked at Ranma. What would her reaction be? Her face was currently blank, studying the new element that had occurred in her life. Recognition dawned onto her face, and a large smile appeared. "Kibako!" She shouted, running to the girl, and…hugging her?

"Ack! Ranma! Let me go damn it! "She shouted, struggling as the much shorter girl held her in a vice grip of a hug. "This is vengeance! One is not hugged by the vengeancee!"

"Oh man, you have no idea how good it is to see you again." Ranma said, "The crap I've put up with…you would not believe it! Now I know why we went to an all-girls school. Men are perverts, every one. Wait till you meet the King pervert though, Kibako. Man is he _insane_."

"Ranma!" The girl finally got loose and pushed Ranma away. "Damn it stop babbling! It' time we finished what we started!"

"Ummm…"Ranma tapped her chin, before clapping her hands together. "Right! Did you really follow me just for that sparring match?" She smiled.

Kibako' eye twitched. "It was a duel, Ranma! A duel that you ran away from!"

Ranma looked confused, "But Kibako…I waited four days for you to show up, you were late."

The quickly gathering crowd nearly fell over.

"Four days! Yuushi' jaw dropped, "How can anybody expect to wait four days?"

"Shut up! Kibako blushed, "I got a little lost, that's all!"

"It was in that vacant lot behind your house." Ranma said.

This time the crowd **did** fall over.

"How can you get lost from that?" Yuushi shouted

"She has a very bad sense of direction." Ranma said sadly, "I had offered to take her to the lot, but she refused."

"That's absurd! You don' go to the person you're dueling with and say 'Hey guide me to the site' it's just moronic!" Kibako drew back her umbrella, "But now that I'm here, Ranma, let's settle everything!"

Silence followed.

"What is she talking about?"

"Duel? How weird."

"If what Ranma said is true it's kind of her fault."

Kibako's eye twitched, "Shut up all of you!" She shouted to the crowd, "You all have no idea the Hell this girl put me through!"

"Huh? What I do to you?" Ranma asked.

"It is a horror beyond words. "She drew back her umbrella, "And talking about it can never change it! So die!" She thrust her umbrella at Ranma. In the same second Ranma was already ducking below it, then sliding back to avoid a kick. In an instant they were two meters away from each other.

"So what, you lost your GPS?" Ranma smirked.

"Oh go to hell." Kibako opened her umbrella and threw it at Ranma. It spun around like a buzz saw, flying towards her target in an arc. Ranma glanced over at it, holding perfectly still. The instant the umbrella got near, her arm shot out and she grabbed it, spinning herself around to match its momentum, it was thrown down onto the ground several meters away.

With a loud thump the concrete actually cracked as it impacted the ground.

"Throwing away your weapon?" Ranma was grinning, her hands on her hips. "Geez, that wasn't too bright."

"Just shut up!" Kibako reached into her ponytail, ripping out more bandannas then it seemed possible to be wrapped around her hair. With a flick of her wrist, they became rigid, hurling them like shuriken, they flew towards Ranma.

Ranma charged towards them, moving as if dancing to dodge the projectiles. In an instant she was in front of Kibako. "Think fast!" She said with a smile. Her foot shot up, hitting Kibako with a perfect snap kick to the jaw. The girl was knocked back, sliding against the concrete before hitting the wall.

_That must be the end._ Yuushi thought. Ranma had never done anything like that before. (He made a mental note to watch out for her kicks.) Still, such a blow must have been a deceive match ending one. Looking over at Ranma, he realized she was still prepared for a fight. "What the-'

Moving faster than Yuushi thought possible, Kibako got up from the dented wall and charged towards Ranma. Almost like lighting she threw six punches at Ranma in as many seconds. Ranma, still smiling, jumped away from them with ease. "Looks like I got the first bl-" In an instant Kibako had launched a spinning kick. Ranma, moved her arms up to block the kick. This didn't seem to accomplish much, as Ranma began to literally fly through the air.

"Ranma!" Yuushi shouted, she was flying towards him. On some impulse he ran towards her, arms out stretched, he jumped in front of her just barely in time to catch her.

THUMP

Ranma collided with Yuushi, and Yuushi found himself behind blown back with her by the momentum of Kibako's kick. He began to fly with her. The two blowing past the crowd, past the side of the school, finally hitting the concrete a few meters from the swimming pool.

* * *

"Owww..." Yuushi groaned. Dancing lights filled his vision. "Ranma...? You OK?"

Silence for a minute, then, "Yuushi..?"

"Yeah?"

"Get your hand off my breast before I tear it off." Her voice was ice.

"Oh..." Yuushi realized that his left hand was in fact on Ranma's chest. "Sorry!" He quickly moved both his hands off her, just to be safe. Ranma then jumped up, Yuushi standing up a second later. She folded her arms and glared at him.

"So, what was that about?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Why didn't you dodge me." Ranma asked flatly, "I know you have the reflexes to do so."

"Uh... well.. ." He tried to figure out his thought process. Why had he done that? "It-"

"Ranma!" Kibako was running towards them, a short distance away she stopped, glancing at Yuushi. "Oh my God! Are you OK?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Yuushi brushed himself off, grinning. "It takes something tougher than that to take me down."

"Good..." Kibako slipped back into a fighting stance, one eye warily gazing out at the pool behind them. "Now Ranma..." She grinned, "I think I'll show you a few dozen more hits now."

"Please. Like you'll hit me again." Ranma stretched herself a little, "Come on! Before the crowd comes back."

Kibako rushed towards Ranma with a battle roar, her fists bursting out like pistons. Ranma was forced to retreat. Her body twisting around the blows that could shatter concrete. Yuushi could only stare. Just what kind of training did Ranma and this girl go through? To move like they did, he didn't even know if his Dad was capable of such feats. They seemed to dance through the air, moving slowly towards... wait.

**The pool.**

"Um, Ran-" Yuushi began to call out, but it was too late, Ranma was knocked into the air by Kibako thanks to a glancing strike, and in a moment both girls were over the water.

Ranma found herself surprised as Kibako jumped above her, ready to knock her down again. She then found herself worried when she saw Kibako's eyes widen, looking past Ranma onto what was below both of them. Ranma spared a glance behind her.

They were both above the school' rather large swimming pool now. And in a minute gravity would take them both down.

"Well damn." Ranma muttered. Kibako was more... vocal.

" _ **Shiiiit!"**_

They both hit the water.

* * *

"Uggg..." Ranma pulled himself out of the pool. "Geez..." He looked around, "Kibako?" Silence. His old friend was nowhere to be seen. "Don't tell me..." He looked across to Yuushi. "You see her?"

Yuushi shrugged. "Anyways... if this is done I'm going to practice..."

Ranma sighed, "I can't believe she got lost just falling into a pool!" He walked past Yuushi, "Anyways... I'm going home now, **OK** El Capi-tan?"

Yuushi sighed, "Fine..."

* * *

"The Hibiki girl's in town?" Genma said as dinner was served.

"Yeah." Ranma shrugged, "We had a little spar after school."

"Spar?" Yuushi's jaw dropped.

"Hmmm. I'm surprised she found you, frankly. That girl wasn't that bright."

"She seemed to have a grudge against you." Yuushi recovered his jaw as Kasumi placed dinner at the table.

"Nah that's just how she is." Ranma piled on the rice. "We were best friends back then. I helped her out a ton." She smiled at the memories. "We did homework together when she sick..."

* * *

" _AHHHHGGGG you ruined my grades!" Kibako shouted. Glaring at the F._

" _Huh? We were supposed to write an essay, right?"_

_Kibako's eye twitched. "Ranma. This is an essay on American History! We were supposed to write one on Japanese history! How could you miss such a crucial detail!"_

" _...Uhh I was sick that day too. My dad told me the homework..."_

* * *

"We would play and spar together..."

* * *

" _Come on Kibako! Get up!" Ranma said with a grin, "I know you're tougher then that!"_

Lying down in the mud, covered in bruises, Kibako whimpered.

_"I'll get you for this Ranma. I'll get you for this one day..."_

"I also helped her deal with nasty perverts!"

* * *

" _..." Kibako could only stare as the bruised and beaten boy she had a crush on... who had finally asked her on a date... had been beaten and chased off by Ranma._

_And they had just hit second base too!_

_"Geez..." Ranma sighed. "Gotta be careful Kibako. He was totally trying to steal your virginity. You need to date more reliable guys"_

_Kibako's eye twitched. She had wanted to **give** him her virginity!_

* * *

"Yep. We were BFFs. Closer than anyone else." Ranma said happily.

"Uh-huh." Yuushi somehow doubted that a "BFF" would switch to trying to impale the friend on an umbrella so readily.

"Well, it's nice to have a friend showing up." Kasumi said cheerfully, "Going to a new school is hard, having a friend to help you get used to things is wonderful!"

Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Riiiigghht." She glanced over to Ranma. "Tell me, Ranma. If you and your friend got into a fight, who do you think would win?"

"Huh? Why do you even need to ask that." Ranma's chest puffed out with pride, "Me of course!"

"You know..." Yuushi drawled, "Women are supposed to be modest."

Ranma's chopsticks hit him between the eyes.

* * *

" **Damn you Ranma!"** Kibako shouted to the stars, the Moon, and God. The trees of this forest shaking with the fury of her cry.

She plopped down onto the earth, grumbling as she began pitching a tent.

"It's not fair. I go through hell, suffer endless torment. And how do I find her? Enjoying life at school! With a cute boyfriend to boot!" She picked up nearby pebble, crushing the unfortunate rock to dust. "When I find her I'll..." She began to laugh as she imagined bringing about Ranma Saotome's imminent demise.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Kibako turned around, a police officer was standing behind her campsite.

"Miss. This is a public park. No camping is allowed."

"...this isn't a forest in the mountains?" Kibako asked.

"What, no. Why would you think that?"

"Uhh..." Kibako found that she really couldn't answer that.

* * *

_"At the very least, while I only draw a beautiful dream, I'll chase you..."_ Sayuri sung cheerfully as she walked home from school. Her mind focused on future goals and DVDs...when suddenly she noticed someone wandering, "Huh?" She crossed the street. "Excuse me."

"Eh?" Kibako looked up from her despair at the girl in front of her. "Do I know you?"

"Aren't you the girl who fought Ranma yesterday?"

"..." Kibako scowled. "Yes! Do you know her?"

"Somewhat. She's been eating lunch with me..." Sayuri frowned, there was something off about this girl. Maybe it was the muscles on her arms, maybe it was the fanged smile.

Maybe it was the homicidal glint in her eyes.

"Where does she live!" She grabbed Sayuri's shoulders.

"Uh-uh... the Tendo Dojo."

"Thank you!" Kibako turned around and ran off.

"Uhh..." Sayuri said, "It's... not that way."

But she was already gone.

* * *

"Tendo Dojo... Tendo Dojo..."

Kibako kept a large supply of directories and address books. They didn't help her much when it came to finding her way around, but at the very least she could send mail.

She was currently rooted to the spot, a mailbox in front of her. This was her chance.

She held the envelope as if it were her last hope.

"You'd better get this Ranma."

* * *

It was another beautiful morning, as usual Kasumi was the first person up.

She had her day scheduled, and the first thing to do was to check the mail! Opening the mailbox, Kasmui saw a rough pink envelope within. Pulling it out, she paused as she noticed the sheer number of Hello Kitty stamps on it. "Hmmm..." It was addressed to Ranma.

* * *

"Ranma, a letter came for you." Kasumi made the announcement at breakfast. "Whoever did it has such cute handwriting." She cheerfully handed Ranma the letter.

"Eh?" She opened it, pulling a short note out of the envelope.

_"After school, in the public park. Unless you really are a weakling._

_-Kibako"_

"Huh. A challenge." Ranma folded the note and pocketed. "Kibako wants to meet me at the park after school."

"Really? Well I guess I can excuse you from practice today..."

"Huh? I don't be going today." Ranma shrugged.

"Why not?" Nabiki asked.

"Well, you know. Her sense of direction is horrible. It'll take her three days, minimum, for her to reach the spot."

"Oh come on Ranma." Yuushi said, "You really don't think it'll take three days just to get there. Nobody can really have that bad a sense of direction."

* * *

"So, you decided to show up." Kibako dropped her pack, picking up her umbrella.

Ranma gave Yuushi a look that clearly said "I would say I told you so but you know it and I know it so enjoy my smug look" before turning back to Kibako. "Yup! I'm ready whenever you are."

"...before that though..." Kibako looked around, "Why is there such a large crowd?"

"Uhhh..."

"Oh that would be me." Nabiki seemed to appear from nowhere. "Lots of people want to see this. So I sold tickets!"

"You disturb me Nabiki, you know that?" Ranma sighed.

"Whatever, let the crowd be the witness to your defeat!" Kibako ran forwards, umbrella out. "Ranma, prepare to die!" Within an instant she was in front of Ranma, swinging her weapon.

"Whoa!" Ranma twisted out of the way of the attack. She was ready to launch her own when Kibako pulled the belt of her pants. With a flick of her wrist it straightened. Kibako then began swinging that at Ranma as well. "That's a cool trick, where'd you learn it?" Ranma asked, getting no answer as Kibako used her two weapons to continuously attack her. Ranma ducked under a belt slash, jumping over the umbrella. "An opening!" She threw her weight behind a lightning punch!

"Ha!" Kibako opened the umbrella, blocking the attack using her new shield. Keeping it open in front of her, she slashed at Ranma in relative safety.

_Hmmm she has me on the ropes._ Ranma thought as she was pushed further and further back by her opponent. _She has superior reach, defense, and strength. All I have is speed._ The crowd was beginning to scatter, the fight unable to be confined to a small area. She spotted a tree to the side. _There we go!_ Adjusting her dodges, she began backing towards the tree.

* * *

Once again Yuushi found himself feeling inadequate.

It just wasn't fair. He had been the best martial artist in the neighborhood, if not all of Nerima! Then Ranma had shown up. She was good, better than anyone he had ever met. That was acceptable. After all, he knew that there had to be people better than him.

He just didn't like that two such people had shown up within a week.

Ranma backed into the tree, still smiling. "Got you now!" Kibako swung the belt.

"Hah!" Ranma jumped up, grabbing a branch to propel herself up, the belt slashed... and Ranma landed behind Kibako. She threw a punch, Kibako spinning her umbrella around to block it...

Ranma grabbed the umbrella by the handle, her other arm lashing out, hitting Kibako's arm. With a tug she ripped the umbrella away and threw it to the side.

Then the tree began to fall down, it impacted the ground with a loud crash.

Ranma was smiling, Kibako was scowling, the crowd was running like hell, and Yuushi was staring.

* * *

"You..." Kibako growled,

"There we go. Without your shield-slash-bludgeoning instrument, you'll be much easier to handle." Ranma nodded, "It was impressive, but you shouldn't have given me a chance to use my one advantage."

"What the hell...?" Yuushi had walked over to the umbrella and tried to pick it up. He could lift it, **barely**. "How strong is she?"

"Just die already!" Kibako pulled out more bandannas, throwing them at Ranma, who easily danced around them. "Just..." She drew back her fist, "...go to..." she flung it out in a massive punch, _**"...HELL!"**_ and actually hit her. Ranma flew through the air, with a splash she crashed into a fountain."

"Ranma!" Yuushi shouted, having managed to sling the heavy umbrella over his shoulder, he ran to the fountain, but Kibako was already there.

"Now then...huh?" Kibako froze, staring at the wet young man before him.

"Uhh..." Ranma smiled uneasily. "Yeah... uh. It's um..."

"...Ranma?" Kibako asked quietly.

"Yeah, it's me." Ranma sighed, his face red. "I got stuck with this..." he clenched his fist in frustration, "this **curse."**

There was total silence, Yuushi continued to run towards the two.

**"Hehehehehe..."**

Laughter.

Kibako was laughing.

"A curse? You call _**that**_ a curse?" By now Kibako was laughing so hard tears were coming down her face. "That good looking strong body? That's what you feel cursed by?" She was no longer laughing. "Oh... that was the first time in a long while I've laughed." She felt satisfied by how Ranma no longer had that casual look on his face. "Now-"

Ranma quickly threw his legs up, kicking her in the gut, leaping out of the fountain and some distance away. _This is bad._ He thought. _My biggest edge is gone._ He lacked the major speed advantage he should. And against Kibako, who he had once seen tie steel bars into knots, that was a bad thing.

Then Kibako threw her belt. It spun around just like her bandannas.

"Oh come on! You can do it with that big thing too?" Ranma barely managed to dodge the much larger projectile, the belt spinning into the air and out of sight. Only for him to see dozens more bandannas flying everywhere.

"Oh geez... how many does she have?" He muttered. The air was now positively filled with spinning razor bandannas, flying around in every direction. "At least the crowd's gone..."

Except for one guy holding that heavy umbrella like an idiot... with gravity beginning to effect the bandannas... right... over...

"Yuushi!"

* * *

"Huh?" Why had Ranma...

Suddenly Ranma tackled him, kicking the umbrella off his shoulder. In a single smooth motion he opened the umbrella, took Yuushi in his other arm, and jumped into the air.

"What are you doing!" Yuushi shouted, his face red as they landed some distance away.

"Just..." Ranma's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. He instantly let go of Yuushi, and they both backed away. "J-j-just shut up!"

"Shut up? Why the hell should I shut up when you just groped me like that?"

"Groped you, why the hell would I want to do **that?"**

"Um... Ranma? Our fight?" Kibako said, and was promptly ignored.

"I don't know! All I know is that for no reason you suddenly decided to feel me up in the middle of a fight!" Yuushi's face was completely red now.

"What is **wrong** with-" Ranma froze, his eyes widening. In an instant Yuushi was tackled, both of them slamming into the ground.

Silence followed.

"What the _**hell!"**_ He shouted, and almost on reflex, he threw up an uppercut, and hit Ranma straight in the chin. "Get off me you perver-" He stopped.

Ranma was staring straight at him, and there were tears in his eyes.

"What...? That couldn't have hurt you..." Yuushi glanced around, "Is something...?"

On the ground, right where he had been standing, was the remnants of Ranma's pigtail. "Huh?" To the side, was Kibako's belt, embedded into the ground.

"Oh. Crap! Oh I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Crap crap. I didn't want anybody else to..." Yet Kibako was ignored.

"Ranma... I..." He looked behind him. Where Ranma had grabbed him and jumped away were several bandannas stuck into the ground. "Ranma I'm-"

Ranma slapped Yuushi in the face.

"You... you asshole." Ranma snarled.

"I-"

"Stay **away** from me!" He screamed, turning around and running away.

"Wait... Ranma..." Yuushi found he couldn't chase him.

"I guess this means we're not finishing today huh." Kibako sighed.

"..." Yuushi stared at the increasingly distant figure of Ranma Saotome.


	5. Are you Sorry?

"Yuushi you idiot."

Ranma sighed, watching the orange sky reflect off the canal that cut through Nerima. She was sitting on the fence, her legs dangling over the edge.

"You are by far the biggest idiot I've ever seen. Ever. Bigger idiot then Pops even."She said.

Nobody replied to her but the wind.

**Episode 5: Are you Sorry?**

"I'm home."Yuushi said, walking into the living room, he saw Nabiki sitting on a cushion. She was counting a large stack of bills.

"Hey Bro."Nabiki waved, smiling. "Hey... here."She pulled out a portion of the stack and handed it to him.

"..huh?"

"Well, you see. I had a betting pool going."Nabiki was almost laughing manically at this point. **"** Almost **everyone** bet on Ranma. Word's been going out about how good she is, you know?" She pocketed her money. "Ranma ran away, _forfeited._ So I got a huge amount of cash. I figured that since you did something to get her to leave, you deserve a little bit of it"

Yuushi sighed. "I don't think I'll ever get you."He walked away to his room.

* * *

Ranma looked up at the stars. "This is just stupid."

_Why am I here?_ She thought. _I should just tell Pops to stuff it and go home._ It wouldn't be the first time she has just up and ditched her father. It would be easy.

So why...?

"Uggg. I just need to kick that idiots ass." She nodded. "That's it..."Ranma forced herself to smile. "That'll make..."Her voice faded _._

_Nope, that won't make me feel better_. What would then?

"Stupid Yuushi..."She whispered.

"Hey there."A voice appeared behind her.

"Wha-ahahaha!" Ranma instantly shot up, nearly losing her balance and falling into the canal.

The man who had somehow snuck up on her just stared passively. "Hello Miss. You're new here, right?"He looked to be in his twenties, wearing a black gi and sandals. His hair was light brown, tied into a pony tail, and his face was framed by glasses.

"Uhh..."Ranma felt unnerved.

He had snuck up on her.

The only person who could do that anymore was Genma. If this guy could do it, he was **good.**

"What makes you think that?" She asked.

The man gave her a confident smile. "Because a few of my elderly patients have been talking about that 'wild looking fighting girl'that's shown up recently."He folded his arms, "And you look like you're the the type."

"Uh-huh."Ranma calmed down, sitting back down on the fence.

"Plus you'd recognize me by reputation at least if you lived in the area."His tone was irreverent, he completely ignored Ranma rolling her eyes. "I run a clinic down the road."He continued. "You look a little glum, want to talk about it?"

"Eh?"

He laughed. "I'm a doctor, you know? We worry about people."

"Oh."Ranma uneasily joined his laughter. "Umm... yeah, sure." She jumped down next to him, "Why not?"

"I'm Ono Tofu."The doctor said.

"Ranma Saotome."She said, "Pleased to meet you."

* * *

Dinner was unusually silent.

Yuushi noticed that Genma was silently waiting, watching him. For a moment it seemed, the tense moment would pass.

"So." Genma said finally, "Where's Ranma?"

It was like a spear had pierced the silence and went straight into Yuushi. **Everyone** was looking at him now.

"That's a good question Saotome. Where is your fiance Yuushi?"

"Why should I know?"He said dismissively. "I'm not that girl's babysitter."

"Yuushi!"Soun snapped, "You will watch over and protect your fiance!"His father looked angry now.

"Dad. Are you blind? First off, I'm not marrying her."Yuushi felt his temper rise. " _Second_ there's the little fact that Ranma is perfectly capable of handling herself!"

"She's a young girl! It's the duty of the-"

"Bullshit Dad! Ranma doesn't need to be protected!"Yuushi stood up, "She's stronger then me, better then me! She's barely arrived and _**everything,"**_ He slammed his fists against the table, "I've accomplished in my life is swept away by her! So no Dad, I'm not going to worry about her."

"..wow Bro. You're bitter, you know that?"Nabki raised an eyebrow.

"Oh dear..."Kasumi said.

Soun, to Yuushi's immense satisfaction, had been stunned into silence.

The only sound was snickering.

Yuushi turned to the source, Genma was pretending not to laugh while still doing it.

"Well well, what do we have here."Genma said, giving a cocky grin that immediately proved that he was Ranma's father. "It looks like the boy is jealous that a girl can beat him up."

Yuushi's response was to punch Genma in the face.

* * *

"Tea?"Dr. Tofu asked as they settled down in his clinic. It was a nice building, small and cozy. The man clearly operated on a small scale, but Ranma could see that he was happy with what he had. He had from somewhere pulled out a western tea set.

"Sure."Ranma nodded.

"I prefer western style tea, if you don't mind."He poured a cup for himself, and one for Ranma.

"I'm the guest here, can't be picky."She shrugged.

Dr. Tofu laughed, "That's an interesting way of saying it."He took a sip of his tea. "So, do you want to talk now?"

Ranma sighed, "Yeah. I guess so. It's... it's this guy."

"A boy huh?"The doctor grinned, a gleam in his eye.

"Ah! No! It's not like that!"She denied it quickly. "He's just an ungrateful jackass!"

"Oh?" Dr. Tofu's smile didn't fade, "Tell me what happened then."

* * *

"Yuushi!" Soun shouted to deaf ears. Yuush was only focused on glaring at the man he had just punched.

"Oh. That's how you want it."Genma nodded, before **moving.** It was unbelievable, on moment Genma was sprawled on the floor, the next he was in Yuushi's face. "You want to fight boy?"He grabbed Yuushi by the collar, "Take it outside!"he threw Yuushi out into the yard.

"Guhhh!"Yuushi managed to land on his feet. Pulling himself into a fighting stance in an instant, it didn't seem to do much good when Genma was in front of him again in an instant. He barely managed to block his punch before a kick was thrown at him. Yuushi growled in frustation.

Fighting Genma was like fighting Ranma, only Genma could twist his blows around in ways that Yuushi couldn't even **see.** Also, Genma hit like a mountain falling on him. Each strike shook him until he was grabbed by the arm. "You...!"He snarled.

"OK Yuushi, go find my daughter..."He threw Yuushi over the fence, _**"Please!"**_

A faint thud was heard from the other side of the wall.

"Owww..."

* * *

Finding someone to rant to turned out to be useful for Ranma. She told him everything about the past two weeks. About the engagement, about the school and the irritating boys who threw notes at her. About the fights, about Kuno, and finally...

How she had helped a certain idiot avoid getting hurt, only to be shoved at and yelled at in return.

"I see..."Dr. Tofu spoke for the first time since Ranma had started talking, taking it all in. "Sounds like the past two weeks have been rough."

"The past month and a half has been rough."Ranma sighed, "I just ain't telling you about the previous stuff, waaay to personal."

"I see."Dr. Tofu briefly wondered what Ranma's problem was, but didn't pry. "I wonder though."he looked thoughtful, "Have you thought about what the boy you've been engaged to might think?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, his life has been thrown into turmoil just like yours."He took a sip of his tea. "Consider his point of view."

"His point of view."Ranma snorted. "Ah yes. I'm so sure that he's so nice and wonderful that he'd yell at a girl who helped him."

"Did he know you helped him? Dr. Tofu picked up the teapot, "Want some more?" Ranma nodded and he refiled her cup. "From what you've told me, you pushed him out of the way of a stray throwing weapon."He frowned at this. "By the way, next time you spar with your friend, can you tell her not to use such dangerous tools? Anyways, he might not have been aware of the weapon. All he knew is that you invaded his personal space suddenly. Considering he's also a trained Martial Artist, his first instinct would be to push you away."

"..."Ranma looked into her teacup.

* * *

"Ranma!" Yuushi shouted.

"Hello?"He was searching everywhere Ranma might be. Unfortunately, he didn't really know where she could have gone.

"Where are you? Ranma!"He had checked the school, the park, and the paths between the places already. Yet there was no sign of her.

"Damn it..."He groaned, kicking a fence as he hung his head in annoyance. "Why can't she have, I don't know, said something? Or just let me apologize!"

Yuushi's grumbling was interrupted by the sudden sound of his stomach growling. "Geez..."he muttered, "Couldn't he have let me finish dinner at least?"

* * *

"I really shouldn't have let her run off."

As much as, at the time, it had satisfied Kibako to imagine running away like a scared child, the fact that she had failed in her mission to beat Ranma Saotome to a bloody pulp produced problems.

The biggest being that she had no idea when and how she'd find Ranma again.

"Great. Just great."She groaned. "Damn. Ranma! Where are you!"Kibako screamed, running right past a small building labeled with the sign _"Tofu Clinic."_

* * *

" _Hiiyah!"Yuushi finished the form with a shout, as he did the sound of clapping filled the dojo."_

" _Wow! Good job!"The woman behind him clapped gleefully, her face shining with pride. Yuushi blushed._

_"Mommy..."He muttered, feeling embarrased under the praise. In response his mom laughed and hugged him._

_"You're going to become the best Martial Artist in the world, aren't you!"She looked into his eyed with a gentle smile._

_"That's right!"His blush faded as he clenched his fists in determination. "I'll be the best! And do lots of cool stuff!"_

_"Yes yes."Soun said, pulling Yuushi away from his mother. "Are you ready to train as hard as possible to make your mother happy?"_

" _Umm-hmm!" He nodded happily at his mom._

* * *

"Uggg I give up."Yuushi groaned, leaning against a light pole. He had searched everywhere, no trace of Ranma. He knew that there's no way he could go home yet, but Ranma just **couldn't** be found.

The sun had set, Yuushi looked up at the stars. "OK... what to do... maybe I can spend the night over..."He began walking towards his destination.

* * *

The teapot was empty, Ranma had been silent for quite some time, her face blank

"You all right?"Dr. Tofu asked.

"My hair."She suddenly ran her hand along the back of her head, the accident had cut off half her pigtail. The remains had become undone and her now ragged hair moved freely down to her shoulder. "Got cut in the fight. Damn."

"I'm afraid any hair stylist has closed shop by now."Dr. Tofu smiled, her laconic tone was the first time Ranma had expressed something other then depressed anger since he'd spotted her.

"Well, that's a pain."She sighed. "You have any scissors Doc? I'll trim it myself."

Dr. Tofu chuckled, "I don't think that'd look very good."He got up out of his chair, "How about I do it? I know how to do womens hair styling."

"..eh?"

He winked, "My mother would make me cut her hair. She is rather cheap."He laughed. A smile rose her face, "And rather demmanding."

"Oh yeah. Demanding moms."Ranma shrugged. "Well, OK Doc, sure. Just trim it so it's even."

"Of course, I'll just grab a towel and-"

The door opened.

"Hey Doc do you mind if I crash here? My dad's-" The door opened, but the person who opened it did not enter.

Ranma instantly turned around, and for what felt like an eternity, the two **stared** at each other.

Dr. Tofu could feel the air getting heavier.

"Ranma!""Yuushi!"They both shouted at once. "What are you doing here!"Again they both shouted. Finally they stopped talking over each other. "You know him?"Ranma asked.

"Oh yes."Dr. Tofu walked over and patted the stunned boy on the shoulder. "Yuushi works here part time, and is a good friend. We even spar sometimes."

"Why... why the hell is she here Doc!"

"Well, I saw her looking rather frustrated, struck up a conversation with her, and invited her to have some tea." He answered calmly.

_**"..Arrrrgggg!**_ I spent an hour and a half looking for you, and you were here!"Yuushi pointed at Ranma.

"..so what? Where I am is none of your business!"Ranma glared at him.

"I... I..."Yuushi clenched his fists. "Damn it! Why did you have to run off like that!"

"Well, maybe it has to do with me not wanting to be around gigantic **ass!"** Voices raised, tempers began to flare.

Dr. Tofu could see quite quickly that there was a chance this could come to blows, so he quickly intervened. "Calm down you two." Their growing fight halted in an instant. "I have to admit, I suspected it was you she was talking about, Yuushi." Dr. Tofu spoke to the boy first. "Not many traditional martial arts families in the neighborhood. Just yours and the Kunos. And well, knowing the Kuno boy if he was the one then I suspect she would be complaining about very different things."

"Don't get me started on that moron."Ranma groaned.

"Now then. Ranma, I know Yuushi a bit better then you, probably. I can tell you he was worried about you."

Yuushi's temper flared up, "Why-" However a timely glare from the doctor quieted him.

"Humph."Ranma folded her arms.

".."Yuushi sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Ranma."

"What?"She asked.

"I... I'm sorry. OK! I didn't mean too... I didn't..."

Ranma looked down onto the ground. "...I didn't really explain, did I?"

"Huh?"

Dr. Tofu smiled, "You both did some stupid things."He looked over to Ranma. "Now Ranma. Are you sorry?"

"..yeah."She sighed. "Sorry, Yuushi. I didn't think."

"Well then! I believe I have a haircutting job to do. Sadly, Yuushi, we're out of tea."

Yuushi perked up, "Oh I can make-"

"No."

It took only a few minutes. Ranma's hair was soon evened up. She no longer had a pigtail, instead her shoulder length hair flowed freely. She had taken a comb and was straightening it out in a mirror.

* * *

"Hey Ranma?"Yuushi walked in behind her.

"Yeah?"

"Uh... I'm a little hungry, Kasmui's dinner is waiting."

On cue, Ranma's own stomach growled. "Eheheh. Me too."She stood up, "Hey Doc! Thanks!"

"You're welcome any time Ranma." Dr. Tofu said with a smile as the two kids walked out of his clinic.

* * *

They walked in silence, down past the canal, the stars silently watching them. Ranma up on the fence, Yuushi walking below and behind her. Their hands in their pockets, neither of them could think of anything. Finally, they reached the Dojo, Ranma jumped down in front of the entrance. She stopped.

Yuushi, having been walking in cadence behind her, halted as well. "Ranma?"

She finally turned around, looking at Yuushi.

"Huh?"

She smiled.

And Yuushi's mind shut down.

"I really am sorry. And... I accept your apology, OK?"

He recovered, and smiled back at her. In the dark, he didn't notice her own blush. "Yeah. Same here. Let's get some food, maybe your Dad didn't eat it all."

"A dim hope, but one none the less." Ranma laughed, and the two went inside.


	6. Puppy Love

The rain poured down over the neighborhood. The night sky covered and hidden by the storm clouds. "Hehehehehe." A girl laughed, standing in front of a building. "At last..."

What was the building? Why, it was the Tendo Dojo.

Lightning illuminated the scene for a brief moment, and the fanged grin of Kibako Hibiki could be seen.

"I found you, Ranma!"

**Episode 6: Puppy Love.**

Kibako shut the window, returning her umbrella to her backpack. "Hehehehe." Before her, she could see Ranma sleeping. Her blanket had been thrown off at some point, and the girl only slept in a tank top and shorts. "...how unfeminine." She walked over to her sleeping target, snoring loudly. "Now then, let's get this over with." She loomed over the sleeping girl, drawing back her fists. "Die, Ranma! You had it long coming." It came down.

THUMP.

"...huh?" Kibako looked at where her fist had struck. It was the futon. In the time between her raising her fist and punching, Ranma had managed to roll over to the side, avoiding her attack. "Heh. No matter, a stroke of dumb luck." She pulled back, aimed her strike, and punched again!

THUMP

"OK what the hell." Again Ranma had managed to, _while still snoring,_ roll over just in time. "Luck can't last forever!"

THUMP!

"This is getting silly."

THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP

**"Arrrrggggggg!** How!?" By now the futon was well abused, having been punched many times. Yet Ranma had avoided every blow. Kibako began using both arms, throwing punch after punch. Yet despite all reason, Ranma was lazily repositioning herself to come out unscathed. "That does it!" She jumped into the air, aiming herself above Ranma, "Dieeeee!" She thrust herself down in a massive, devastating bodyslam.

**THUD.**

"Nnnaaahhhh..." Ranma had sat up, avoiding the bodyslam entirely. Yawning, the girl stretched, scratching her side. "...thirsty." She mumbled, standing up to get a drink. She walked out of her room, failing to notice Kibako face down on the floor.

"...I hate my life." Kibako peeled herself from the floor. "OK, new plan. Ambush her when she walks back in. Jumping up, she clinged to the wall above the doorframe. "Hehehehe, no sleep dodging this time, Ranma!" Lightning struck again.

A few minutes passed, and Ranma returned, a glass of water in her hands. Kibako leaped! "Prepare to-"

"Ranma?"

"Eh?" Ranma walked out of the room, somehow not hearing the sound of Kibako faceplanting onto the floor again. "Kasmui?"

"I heard some noises. So I was a little worried a burgler might have broken in."

Kibako pulled herself from the ground once more.

"Is that what the shinai's for? Heh."

"Oh yes. Yuushi insisted I learn something to protect myself, taught me a little swordplay. Heehee."

"Well, sorry, I haven't heard anything."

Kibako threw a glare at the hated girl just outside the door.

"I see. Maybe I just had a dream... Oh. Ranma?"

"Yes?"

Kibako stood up, considering for a moment to just shove her umbrella into the back of Ranma's head.

"I've noticed you and Yuushi have been getting along a lot better these past few days." A giggle.

"Ah. Uh. We-we-well... it's just that we've worked out an agreement. We're not getting married or anything."

"Of course." Another giggle. "Good night Ranma."

"Night Kasumi."

In an instant Kibako dashed into Ranma's closet, hiding from her targets sight. Ranma yawned, returning to her futon. She pulled her blanket over her, got confortable,and was within a few minutes asleep once more. Kibako peeked out of the closet, checked to see if Ranma was truly asleep. Once confirmed, she jumped out of the closet and ran over to Ranma. "Now then..." She knew what she needed to do, she carefully positioned herself over Ranma, straddling herself on top of the redhead. "No dodging this time! Prepare to die!" Suddenly, Ranma grabbed her collar! "Ah! Woken up have you!" She looked down... at Ranma's still closed eyes. "What... the..."

"Not this time Pops!" Ranma, still clearly asleep, shouted as she picked up Kibako bodily. "Go... away!" She threw Kibako out the still closed window. She flew straight through it, barely managing to pull out her umbrella in time to avoid being drenched.

"...huh?" The sound of the window breaking finally woke Ranma up. "What's going on? Hey... who broke then window?"

"Damn it Ranma!" Kibako's voice wafted in.

"Eh?" Ranma walked over to the broken window, peering outside. "Kibako?"

"No. It's the Queen of England." Kibako said, "Of course it's me!"

"What're you doing out there?" She shouted.

"You threw me out a goddamned window!"

"I did?" Ranma paused, "I don't remember doing that."

"You were asleep!"

"Oh..." Ranma sighed, "Sorry, Kibako. Must have been a reflex"

Kibako's eye twitched. "Reflex? Reflex! Defenestration is not a goddamned reflex!" She stomped her foot in frustration. "I followed you all the way to China and got this hell and what-"

"Wait. You went to China!" Ranma shouted, her eyes widening. Her vanishing in the pool, her holding that umbrella up... "You got cursed too!?" Ranma closed her eyes... and sighed. "Kibako…" She jumped out the window.

"Glad to see you decided to follow rather than hide!" Kibako shouted, "Now, let's finish what we-" She threw her hand out in an aggressive gesture. The hand she threw out was the one holding her umbrella, this caused the wind to blow it away. "…start…started…" The rain began to fall on her uncovered head. " _ **Nooooooooo!"**_ She jumped away.

"Wait, Kibako!" Ranma chased after her.

* * *

**Knock Knock**

"Coming…" Yuushi got out of his bed, "Who is it.. it's Two A.M…" He opened the door to his room, Kasumi was standing in front of it, a shinai in her hands. "…Kasumi?"

"I think someone broke in!" Kasumi pushed the Shinai into Yuushi's hands, "I heard loud noises and somebody broke the window to Ranma's room!"

"What?!" Yuushi pulled the Shinai close to him, "Did you wake up Dad?"

"…Father… might not react well." Kasumi, having handed her weapon to Yuushi, armed herself with a new one. Namely, picking a dumbbell lying near the door in Yuushi's room. "Let's go."

"Right." Yuushi nodded.

* * *

"Kibako!" Ranma shouted, "Hey! Where are you?" He ran down the street. "Damn it...!" He skidded to a stop. "Where is she?" He sighed, "Come on... did you... did you end up like me...?"

Lighting flashed, and Ranma spotted something in the corner of his eye. It was Kibako's umbrella... and something was under it!

"Ki-Kibako...?" Ranma lifted up the umbrella. "No way... you turned into this?"

* * *

CLANG! THUNK!

"Someone's in the kitchen!" Kasumi said.

"Right." Yuushi clenched his shinai tighter. "Stay behind me Kasumi."

The two rushed to the kitchen, Kasumi's pans had been knocked down and scattered all over the ground.

"Who's there!?" Yuushi shouted, he looked around the dark room.

"Ruuufff!" A sound! Something jumped at Yuushi!

"Woah!" Yuushi swung the shinai at the blur.

"Roff!" The blur dodged the swing.

"It's..." Kasumi looked at the thing that had been bouncing around the kitchen. "...a dog?"

"Grrrruff!" The dog backed away from Yuushi, barking sharply.

"...Awww, there there..." Yuushi said, "That's a good dog..." He petted the small dog on the head. It was definitely a mutt of some kind. Covered with black fur, around its neck was a bandanna that looked familiar, though Yuushi couldn't place it. "Poor thing. That's a good boy, I bet you're hungry, huh?"

At that the dog's ears perked up. "Ruff!"

"Yup!" Yuushi picked up the dog, opening the fridge door and pulling out a piece of chicken. "There we go. Good dog!" He held up the meat to it, and the dog devoured it within a second.

"Well isn't it a cute little thing." Kasumi said.

"Good dog." Yuushi said.

* * *

Poor Kibako... how could she? Ranma couldn't believe it.

"Bwee?"

"Don't worry Kibako." Ranma said to the little black piglet in his arms. "I won't tell anybody about what happened to you." He needed to get some hot water, he slipped into the kitchen and to his surprise saw Kasumi and Yuushi.

"Ranma?" Kasumi said, "What are you doing up?"

"Uhh, I saw Kibako outside and went to talk to her." He said, clutching the piglet close, "I'll just get some hot water boiling…"

"Grrr…" The dog who Yuushi had been petting suddenly started growling once it noticed.

"Hey, quiet down." Yuushi said to the dog. The dog looked up at him, "Good boy!" He kissed the dog on the top of the head.

"Roohh…" The dog seemed stunned at this.

"Hey, what's with the mutt?" Ranma said, using one hand with a fair bit of difficulty to fill a kettle with water for heating.

"We found him inside." Yuushi said, "Isn't he adorable!" He picked up the dog and held it up to Ranma.

The dog seemed to glare at him.

"Uh, it's a she."

"Oh." Yuushi said, "She's adorable then."

"Oh? Kasumi noticed what Ranma was holding, "What are you doing with P-chan?"

"...P-chan?"

"Yes. He's a pet of Hikari, a girl who lives a few houses down the road." Kasumi said.

"A pet?" Ranma frowned, "I, uh, ran into him outside." After a moment's thought, he picked up the kettle, found it warm enough, and poured a little on the piglet.

"Bwee!" P-chan squealed, but stayed a pig.

"Guess I was mistaken…" Ranma whispered to himself.

"Hey Ranma." Yuushi said.

"Hmm?"

"How about you take a bath instead of just using the kettle?" Yuushi pushed the dog towards him, she barked.

"...you want me to wash the dog, don't you."

"Well she is a bit dirty and cold…" Yuushi said, "Please?"

The dog didn't seem to agree with this suggestion, as she started growling.

"Hey now!" Yuushi turned the dog around to look into her eyes. "Listen, you be a good girl and I'll give you a reward later, OK?"

"Roohhh…" The dog quieted down, allowing a passing around of animals, Ranma gave Kasumi P-chan and then Yuushi handed him the dog.

"There we go." Ranma said, "Let's go take a nice hot bath…"

The dog's eyes widened at the word "hot" and began struggling and barking in Ranma's arms.

WHAP! "Calm down you dumb mutt!"

* * *

The door to the bath opened, and Ranma managed to get in. Just as he shut the door behind him, the dog escaped from his grip.

"Dumb dog!" Ranma snapped, "I'm just trying to clean you!"

"Ruff roh roh!" The dog said in reply.

Ranma sighed, pulling of his tank top and needed bigger clothing, but then they'd be bigger when he was normal. "What a pain…" He grabbed the dog by the bandana she had on. "OK, you ready for a scrubbing?" The dog shook her head rapidly. "Hah. It's like you understand me.' Scooping her up he jumped into the furo.

And suddenly she was in the bath with someone much bigger than a dog.

"I told you no." Kibako said.

* * *

"Hmm… Spot? Yuki? Freddy?" Yuushi muttered.

"What are you doing?" Kasumi asked, putting away the kettle and shinai.

"Oh… uh… thinking up names?" Yuushi said.

Kasumi folded her arms, "Yuushi, you're thinking of keeping her?"

"Well, I mean… err… she clearly has an owner, so I was thinking of watching over her… and… uh…"

Kasumi sighed, "Fine. I guess you can take care of her until we find her owner."

His face split into a wide grin, "Thanks Kasumi!"

_He's like a kid._ Kasumi thought. "By the way, 'Freddy' is a boy's name."

* * *

The Tendo bathroom had turned rather tense. Ranma was staring at Kibako, while Kibako glared back.

"So… you, uh, did go to Jusenkyo." Ranma said, breaking the silence.

"Glad to see you figured it out." Kibako said.

"Why were you there anyways?" Ranma asked.

"To find you of course!" Kibako screamed, "You have any idea what I went through? I had to travel vast deserts, frozen tundras, outrun lions and elephants, all to find you!"

Ranma didn't remember any deserts, tundras, or lions between Japan and Jusenkyo, but decided not to press the point. "Wait, how did you know I was going there? I didn't."

"Your dad left a brochure at your place. I found it instead of you." Kibako explained.

"And, you, uh, missed the part about it being horribly cursed?"

"My.. my Chinese isn't that good." Kibako muttered, "I got the name and the map. down. But that's not the point!" She stood up, splashing water around, "The point is this, I got there… and was cursed! I was knocked into the Spring of Drowned Dog by a panda! It was horrible!"

"A panda…?" Ranma frowned, before her eyes widened, "Oh uh, I see. That's horrible!"

"It's all your fault!" Kibako said.

"Wait a minute, isn' it, uh, the panda's fault?"

"If you hadn't ran off I wouldn't have been in China in the first place!"

"But I didn't-" Ranma stopped when she heard the door start to open, she saw it, the flash of black and white fur! SLAM! "Damn it old man! Respect a girl's privacy!" She shouted, having quickly jumped out of the bath and forcing the door closed before Kibako could get a glimpse at the panda behind it. A folded piece of paper slipped under the door.

Ranma picked it up and read it. " _Ranma! What are you doing in the bathroom so late!"_

"I could say the same to you!" She said through the door.

"A note?" Kibako was peeking over her shoulder.

"Ah, eer, my dad lost his voice for the moment. So he's communicating with notes." Ranma said quickly.

"I hope he gets better then." Kibako said, having filled a wash bucket with water, "Anyways, as much as I want to deal with you Ranma, I have an appointment."

"A what?" Ranma asked, but Kibako just dumped the cold water over her and again in dog form walked over to the door, looking at Ranma. "Uhh….?"

"Woof." Kibako said, raising her paw to point at the door.

"Okay…" Ranma opened the door a crack, and Kibako sprinted out. "What was that about? Why on earth did she go back?"

* * *

Once Ranma washed herself off and got dried and dressed up again, she wandered into the kitchen, to her surprise Kasumi was making something.

"Oh, hi Ranma." She said, "I couldn't fall back asleep, so I chose to go for a midnight snack, you want some once I'm done?"

"Sure!" Ranma said, "Hey… Kasmui, where's the dog?"

"She's called Misty now." Kasumi said, "Yuushi's going to be looking after her for the time being. The two went to bed already."

"Wait. He is?" Ranma said, "But that dog is… she's… ahh…" She couldn't say it was Kibako! There was no way she'd want such a horrible secret revealed about her.

And now a boy and a girl were going to spend the night in the same room together!

"Kibako and Yuushi… Kibako and Yuushi…" Ranma muttered those words to herself.

It… it did not make her happy.

"Did you say something Ranma?" Kasumi asked.

"Oh! Err… nothing. I think I'll have to skip on the snack." She made an exaggerated yawn, "Forgot how tired I was, night Kasumi."

"Good night then Ranma." Kasmui said as Ranma ran out of the kitchen. For a moment she continued cooking. "So, that young lady turns into a dog like Ranma and Mr. Saotome." She said to herself with a shrug, "Oh well, I'm sure they'll deal with it."

* * *

The rain had stopped, so it was time for the first phase of Ranma's plan. In one hand, she held a kettle, in the other a set of clothing that she was pretty sure would fit Kibako. The next phase would be slipping into Yuushi's room. Easy enough, there was a big open window. The next step would be to get Kibako back into human form. Once she realized how scandalous this all was she'd agree and they'd leave. And hopefully this entire thing would blow over and there wouldn't be a girl sleeping in Yuushi's bed-

There wouldn't be any more trouble.

She climbed over the roof, slowly opening Yuushi's bedroom. As much as it shamed her, Genma had taught her some good stealth techniques. She entered the room without making a sound. Or, at least, no sound that could be heard by human ears.

At the end of Yuushi's bed, Kibako's dog ears perked up. Then, she began to growl.

"Shhh! Kibako!" Ranma whispered, "I'm here to get you out of here!" She held up the kettle. This for some reason did not cause the growling to stop. In fact, it seemed to get louder! "Listen! You can't be in here!" Kibako stood up now. "A boy and a girl can't sleep in the same room bef-"

Chomp.

"Owww!" Ranma shouted, "You bit me! Why the hell did you bite me you crazy mutt!" Kibako could not answer, partly because she was a dog, and partly because she was still latched to Ranma's foot. "Let go let go!" She hopped around on one foot, swinging her foot around. "Stop it!" After a wild kick, she finally managed to get Kibako off her… just in time to trip over the bed. Flailing around, she landed right on top of Yuushi.

His eyes shot open. She knew this because her face was mere inches from his.

Yuushi's room had a clock in it. It was the only thing Ranma could hear.

"There's a perfectly logical explanation for all-"

"Out." Yuushi said.

"Now listen a min-"

" **Out."**

"Damn it Yuushi I can-"

" **Out!"** He shouted, and Ranma bolted.

* * *

"Son?" Soun asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine dad." Yuushi said.

"Well it's just you've been acting odd this morning." Soun said, "I can't quite put my finger on it though…"

"He hasn't been looking even in Ranma's general direction today Dad." Nabiki said.

"It isn't your business Nabiki." Yuushi said, finishing off his breakfast rice, completely ignoring Ranma sitting across the table from him.

"Damn it Yuushi." Ranma grumbled, glaring at the dog sitting next to him, "This is all your fault." She snapped at Kibako, who barked smugly.

"Don't be mean to Misty." Yuushi said, somehow managing to still put on an air of ignoring her even as he spoke directly to her.

"Damn it!"


	7. A Sport of Men

Tatawaki Kuno made sure not to miss a single practice. Kendo was his life, his duty as a samurai was to master the way of the sword. And so he trained,and trained… oh if only he had not made that foolish bet with the treacherous Tendo!

The fool didn't even make it to morning practice half the time. He, of course, made sure that the lower members of the club knew the penalty for missing any session even if school rules officially made the morning sessions "optional." Now if only Tendo would stop tricking him so that he could bring proper order back to the club before they fell from the greatness he was ready to lead them to…

"What…?" He said as he opened the door to the club's dojo. "What is this?"

**Episode 7: A Sport of Men**

Ranma, Soun, Genma, and Kasumi were standing around Yuushi's bed, Yuushi himself was laying on it, his breathing shallow.

"Kasumi…" Yuushi said with a groan, "Please… as a favor to your only brother… kill me."

Kasumi sighed, "Yuushi, it's just a cold."

"I am in agony." Yuushi said, before sneezing… three times in a row. Kasumi just rolled her eyes at this.

"Well you'll live." Kasumi said, rolling her eyes, "I'm going to call Dr. Tofu to see…"

"I'll call him Kasumi." Nabiki shouted from outside the room..

"Hmm…?" Yuushi looked down to the side of the bed, "Misty…? Where'd she go?"

"U-um… Yuushi?" A damp Kibako entered the room, holding a paper bag.

"Oh, hey.. you're Ranma's friend… Kibako right?"

"Y-yeah!" Kibako nodded, holding out the bag, there were oranges in it. "I heard you had a cold… well I hear oranges help."

"Oh.. ah… thanks…" Yuushi said, taking the bag of fruit, peeling one of them, he took a bite. "Hey… these are good, where'd you get them?"

"Oh I picked them up in Florida while on a trip to Hokkaido." Kibako said, a brief silence followed as Kasumi and Yuushi decided not to ask for more details.

Ranma shrugged, "So you just happened to stop by Kibako?" She said, her eyes narrowed.

"Of course!" Kibako laughed nervously.

"Ranma…" Yuushi moaned, "Come here…"

"Yuushi?" Ranma said, realizing that he sounded serious.

"Ranma, there's something very important I need to ask of you." He stared into her eyes, "I'm asking you this as your… aahhh choo!" He sneezed, "As your.."

"As your fiance!?" Soun said.

"As the woman you love?" Genma jumped in too.

" **As her Kendo Captain!"** He screamed. "Ranma, make sure Kuno doesn't beat up the other members, and bring back any paperwork that I'd need to look over. OK?"

"Sure, I can handle that." Ranma said.

* * *

Ranma walked alone to school for the first time two weeks. Still, it was fairly uneventful overall. Kibako had refused to leave… Ranma was wondering just when she'd come clean about her curse. She couldn't just be planning to pretend to be Yuushi's pet forever, right?

"Ranma!" That voice.., no. What was he doing this early? "Ranma!"

Ranma did her best to ignore him, even as he shouted her name over and over again.

"Ranma!" Kuno jumped in front of her, screaming into her face.

After punching him into the ground, she sighed and decided that he wasn't going to leave her alone. "What is it Kuno?"

Kuno pulled himself off the ground, "Ranma." He said, his expression serious, "Where is Tendo?"

"He's sick." Ranma said.

"Sick? Sick! See Ranma, this is why he is unworthy, to shirk his duty like that!" Kuno said, "When the Kendo club has fallen upon the darkest times ever.. no. Now is the time to act! Come my love! I the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High will save the Kendo Club with you by my side!" He started laughing… before noticing that Ranma had left towards the club's dojo around half way through his rant.

* * *

Ranma rarely headed to morning practice thus far in her career as Kendo Club member, mainly because Yuushi didn't go often himself.

Still, the rest of the fourteen members seemed to have come, and Ranma found herself staring at them. They were all laying on the ground, moaning in pain…

"Kuno. Why are they wearing dresses?"

"Ranma…" Kuno said, panting, "You.. how do you keep up such a pace?" He was honestly impressed, somehow Ranma managed to move at such a speed that he had to run after her, while still having the appearance of a leisurely walk.

Ranma considered saying something like 'Endurance training with Yuushi' but decided that as hilarious it would be to see his reaction, it wouldn't be worth the later rumors and headaches. So instead she simply said. "You're just a slowpoke you idiot." Naturally, the insult had no effect on him. "So, anyways Kuno, can you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Can you not see?" Kuno gestured towards the battered students, "The indignity forced upon them!?"

"Yes Kuno. I see that they've been beaten up and shoved into dresses. I want to know **why."** She said with a sigh, "How does Nabiki put up with you? She talks to you like, all the time, and I've yet to see her commit murder."

"Do not ask me to explain Nabiki Tendo's mindset." Kuno said, "And as to their state… I thought you wanted to be a student of Kendo? My dear, anyone with any knowledge of the art would understand immediately."

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Upperclassman, I only got into kendo two weeks ago, explain this to me."

"Very well!" Kuno said with a flourish, "What you see before you is the result of one of the most devastating kendo techniques in all of Japan! A terrible and great rising star who has been running through all the schools in Japan, defeating their clubs one by one. A fearsome master… the only man I fear to face…"

"That's right, Tatewaki Kuno!" A new voice called out from behind them. Ranma glanced behind her and noticed a young man walking out from the shadow behind the supply shed.

"You!" Kuno shouted, "I feared yet hoped this day would come… Shujin Tsukuki!"

Shujin smirked, he was a pretty handsome guy, though Ranma wasn't personally a big fan of the pretty boy look. Light brown hair immaculately combed, tall and slender, he wore a fancy looking suit. A shinai in one hand, a rose in the other. "Indeed! I have heard of your skill, and chose to test your club's skill… I frankly, found it lacking."

"They were mere boys, Tsukuki." Kuno said, stepping forward, his hand on his bokken. "They did not deserve what you have done!"

"Mere boys? Not even!" Shujin laughed, "Their skills were lacking, and I passed judgement on them." He stepped forward, "I have traveled Japan, defeating each Kendo Club's members, before toppling their captain! Now that the peons have fell, it is time to taste my blade, Shooting Star of Furinkan High… Tatawaki Kuno!"

"I accept your challenge…. Shujin Tsukuki!" Kuno screamed, and the two charged at each other.

"Uh, excuse me, guys?" And then they both stopped when Ranma stepped between them. "Far from me to interrupt a good pre-fight banter, but there were some issues I noticed."

"M-M-Miss. I'm afraid you interrupted something important between us." Shujin said.

"Yeah yeah, I just want to clarify some things." Ranma said, "First off, I thought you called yourself the Blue Thunder." She gave Kuno a glance.

Kuno coughed and looked away, "He may have outdated information."

"Right, you've got multiple pretentious titles. Got it." Ranma turned back to Shujin, "So, tell me if I got something wrong. You defeat all the other club members before taking down the Captain, right?"

"Y-yes that is correct." Shujin said, "I believe I said that in my speech Miss…?"

"Saotome. Ranma Saotome." Ranma said, "So what about Vice-Captains?"

"Err… I guess I would defeat them after the regular members but before the Captain."

"Got it. Hear that Kuno?" Ranma gave Kuno a grin.

"Wait… Vice-Captain…?"

"He lost it the Captain seat in a bet."

"It was trickery I say!" Kuno shouted, he was actually **blushing.**

"Well, um, I fail to see how that changes things. Even if I need to face another after this, I still must defeat him." Shujin said.

"Well, that's not true." Ranma said, "You've beaten fourteen Kendo Club members, but there's one more normal member you haven't beaten yet."

"No…." Kuno whispered.

"Really? Well, where is he? I should defeat him quickly so I can have my duel with Kuno!"

"Here." Ranma said.

For a moment, nobody spoke, then Shujin started looking around, "Where is he? Miss Saotome, I can't see him."

Ranma sighed, "I'm the other member, you moron."

"Pardon?" Shujin said.

"I. Ranma Saotome, am a member of the Furinkan High School Kendo Club." Ranma said slowly, as if explaining the concept to a small child.

"But… but that makes no sense! Kendo is a sport of men!"

"Oh god there's two of them."

"Well, um, forgive me Miss. I'm sure you.. well… think playing with a shinai is fun. But I have a fight-"

"Oh hell no." Ranma scowled, and marched straight up into Shujin's face, "You said you'd defeat every club member before you fought any captains, vice or otherwise." She jabbed a finger into his chest, "And that's pretty much a challenge to every club member, right?"

"I… I guess?"

"Well if there's one thing I took from my increasingly worthless father, a martial artist does. Not. Refuse. A. Challenge." Every word punctuated by a jab onto his chest "Do you understand? Unless you're a gutless honorless **dog** then you will fight me."

"Err, Ranma, I think you're being a little-"

"You stay out of this Kuno. Unless by some miracle he beats me, this pretty boy isn't your problem." Ranma snarled.

"Err… Miss Saotome… why are you so insistent on fighting me?" Shujin said.

Now Ranma grinned, "Because if you're so good it should be fun!"

"Right… well then… I shall duel you tomorrow. I promise to be gentle."

Ranma's grin faltered, "Why not now?"

"I have to prepare myself, as gentleman I was raised not to strike a lady… even if honor is at stake it will take meditation and effort."

"Fine. Whatever." She was seriously tempted to just punch him right then.

* * *

School ended without any further event, and so Ranma decided to head straight home to inform the Captain of his club's new development.

"Tendo! Show yourself!"

Why Kuno had decided to tag along was a question she didn't know the answer to.

"Kuno-baby… why are you here? I thought we had an agreement." Nabiki said, she had been leaning against the gate to the house, frowning at the thought of Kuno entering her life.

"Indeed we do Nabiki Tendo. However! I am invoking the Kendo Club Clause."

Nabiki sighed, "Damn it. It's cause Yuushi's sick, isn't it."

Ranma shrugged, "It's stupid, that's all I know."

"Tendo!" Kuno shouted, dashing through the gate and into the house.

Ranma didn't run after him, instead she just stared at Nabiki. "How, exactly, do you put up with him?"

Nabiki shrugged, "He's rich and an idiot. I get fifty thousand yen a week off him, minimum."

"Is it worth it, Nabiki? Is it?"

Nabiki opened her mouth to say yes, but then closed it and frowned. "Um, damn. You got me there Saotome. I'll have to check my ledgers."

* * *

"Feeling better Yuushi?" Ranma said, entering the room. It was no surprise to her that she came in to Kuno ranting about something or the other while the bedridden Yuushi was stuck rolling his eyes.

"Ranma, why is he here?" Yuushi said, "He's been screaming about the honor of the club being at stake and to stop you from doing something."

"Some guy challenged the club, he's planning to beat the other members before taking down the captains."

"Really? What's his name?"

"Shujin.. somethin…"

"Shujin Tsukuki?" Yuushi said, "I've heard of that guy before."

It was at that point Kuno noticed that nobody was paying attention to him, he slammed his fist against Yuushi's bed. "Are you listening to me Tendo!"

"No." Yuushi said, "You've been speaking nonsense. You're in my house. And I'm sick. I thought Nabiki blackmailed you into staying away from my home?"

"He invoked the Kendo Club Clause." Ranma said.

"Damn it."

"Anyways, this Tsukuki guy… do either of you know much about his style?" Ranma said, "Or why the other club members were in dresses?"

"I've just heard of him, what about you Kuno?"

Kuno, realizing that he was actually being listened, cleared his throat. "Shujin Tsukuki is a fearsome kendo master… his style is of his own invention, and one that will terrorize Japan for years to come."

"And the dresses…?" Ranma said.

"Part of it. You see, he calls his style 'The Sword for Testing Manhood.' It is a devastating form that attacks not just the body… but the opponents very masculinity!"

There was a very long silence.

"You see, he symbolically crushes their manhood by forcing a symbol of femininity onto them." Kuno said as if this made perfect sense.

"Well, good thing I don't have a manhood to crush." Ranma said. This caused Yuushi to start laughing. "Stuff it before I make your illness worse."

"Ranma!" Nabiki charged into the room, a big smile on her face, "I checked the ledgers and it turns out that while the minimum is fifty thousand, the average is a lot higher. Eighty-five thousand yen a week! Kuno is totally worth it at that value."

"That's… great Nabiki." Ranma said.

"Wait a minute. What the hell are you doing with my sister Kuno?" Yuushi asked.

"Selling him photos, giving him information, blackmailing him. That sort of thing." Nabiki said, "I'm not that desperate my dear little brother." She looked over to Kuno, "By the way, by invoking the Kendo Club Clause you owe me lunch for a week Kuno-Baby."

"W-what?"

"Check the contract."

"Damn you and your mercenary ways Nabiki Tendo."

* * *

Ranma shouldn't have been surprised that her little match had been blown up into a big thing. If there was one thing Nabiki was good at, it was setting up a spectacle. From a casual fight in the club dojo, to a big event in the gym, with the bleachers filled with students. She noticed that more than a few girls seemed to be cheering on the challenger in this fight.

Nabiki herself seemed to be gathering a few last minute bets, before approaching Ranma. "Hey there."

"You know, I should ask for a cut." Ranma said, her arms folded.

"You already get free room and board Saotome, don't push it."

"You say that as if you're paying for any of it."

"Not the point." Nabiki said.

Ranma looked over the gym, Shujin hadn't shown up yet. "Wish Yuushi was here."

"Oh? Why is that?" Nabiki was smirking now.

"He's the Captain. He should be here." She gestured towards her clubmates,who were thankfully no longer in dresses, all holding up signs cheering her on. Kuno, oddly enough though, was not cheering. He was sitting at the front, his arms folded and had a expression indicating deep conflict.

"You sure you just don't want your handsome fiance watching over you?"

Before Ranma could reply to that dig, the doors flew open. With the cheering of girls and the booing of the kendo club, Shujin entered the makeshift arena. He was still holding a rose, though he was wearing a proper _kenbogu_ instead of that suit from yesterday. He slowly approached Ranma, clearly enjoying the attention.

"Right, time to deal with this." Ranma picked up her _men,_ holding it under her arm as she walked to him.

"Good luck!" Nabiki said.

* * *

" _Ranma."_

" _What is it Yuushi?"_

" _Promise me you won't use any Anything Goes tricks. Nothing but the Kendo you've been learning."_

" _Eh?"_

" _This is a Kendo match, and as Captain I'd feel a bit ashamed if you won only because of your ability to punch things."_

" _Oh… sure fine."_

The conversation she had with Yuushi just before she had headed off to school replayed in her head. A simple enough promise, beat this guy with just kendo. Should not be too hard, since this wasn't technically speaking, a fight, but rather a contest for a sport, she figured she could afford to hold back with just sword techniques.

"Hey there." Ranma said to him once they met in the center.

"I see that Kuno is here." Shujin said, "I promise I'll make this quick Miss."

Ranma rolled her eyes, "Fine. Whatever." They both kneeled down, bowing as they put on their _men._ Once the protective headgear was applied, they stood up, holding their shinai at ready. With a whistle from one of the referees, the match started.

With a shout Shujin swung, aiming to hit her straight away, Ranma of course didn't let him, she raised the sword and blocked.

"What…?" He actually sounded shocked. "This is…"

"Just shut up and fight!" Ranma shouted, knocking his shinai to the side and swinging hers at him.

In response he deflected hers, "You have some speed and agility Miss Saotome." He said, she could hear the smirk. "However, your form is lacking!"

"Shut up!" She growled, swinging the shinai again with a loud crack, slamming against his.

"Humph, so emotional." Shujin said, switching from a swing to a thrust… bypassing Ranma's defenses! "Yrraaahhh!" With a shout, his shinai impacted the chest of her armor… and something flew out of his bogu's sleeve!

It happened near instantaneously, her own bogu flew off… and for a moment her vision was covered with something pink.

The crowd gasped as two of the referees held up the white ribbon… Shujin had scored the first point.

"What… what the hell?!" Ranma realized what had happened, somehow with that single strike he had blown off the bulk of her kenbogu (the men remained) and flung this… very pink and frilly dress onto her. "How did you do that you pervert? Wait, how is this even legal!?"

"Ah Miss Saotome, I think you'll find that my custom made punishment dresses fulfil all the protective requirements to be a legal replacement for any bogu." He said with a laugh.

Ranma glanced over to the referees, to her surprise all three nodded. "Oh come on. This is retarded."

"All this complaining… no wonder that dress fits you better than any other I've fought."

"That's because I'm a girl you jackass." Ranma said.

"Exactly!" Shujin began attacking again.

* * *

Nabiki's ringtone was a simple utilitarian beep. Her phone was an older clamshell model, partly because she was cheap about it, and partly because she just liked it. She flipped it open, and saw that it was Yuushi. "Hey, what's up?"

"How's the match going?" Yuushi said, his nose still sounding plugged up

"Well, you want my opinion as a businesswoman?"

"How is Ranma doing Nabiki?"

Nabiki chuckled into the phone, "Well, not particularly hot. Tsukuki got a hit in."

"Really? Geez. Maybe I should have let her cut loose…"

"Hmm?" Nabiki said.

"Oh, I just asked her to just do Kendo stuff, she's not doing her usual jumping around and stuff when she fights right?"

"Yeah, you're right." Nabiki said with a frown, "You could have told me this earlier Yuushi."

"Why?"

"Because Ranma's holding back, I could have adjusted the odds to account for that." Nabiki ignored the sigh coming from her brother. "Why'd you do something like that?"

"Oh… err, you know. Part of it is that as hilarious as it would be, I don't think the refs would approve Ranma jumping over Tsukuki, smashing his weapon, and shoving a shinai up his ass." Yuushi said, pausing as Nabiki laughed at the mental image. "And well, I guess it's just a club pride, you know? I'm the captain and I want to see my members get better at kendo."

"Wait, didn't you just snatch the position from Kuno-baby because you wanted to piss him off?"

"Err, ah… come on Nabiki, I do care really. Also, I didn't think he'd actually accept the bet."

"One of these days you'll have to tell me the whole story." Nabiki said.

"Right… well, also, I've been watching some videos of Tsukuki's matches. Another question, has he gotten Ranma into one of those dresses?"

"Yup." Nabiki said, "Kind of creepy."

"Tell me about it. Anyways, I think I've figured him out."

A toothy grin rose to Nabiki's face, "Oh? Do tell."

* * *

**Crack!**

Ranma realized something irritating. She was getting pushed back, slowly but surely. His swings she just barely could not predict and deflect perfectly… at least as she was.

Her instincts were screaming to just step aside, avoid the wooden stick, and punch him. Yet she couldn't, she had promised that she'd win the fight just with this dumb fake martial art sport. So she was using a weapon she hadn't had any practice with in years before joining this club less than a month ago, and going against a guy who was pretty good despite his perversion.

The dress he had shoved her in was pretty impressive, actually. It had the proper padding in all the right places, yet it was a bit odd feeling to Ranma. The dress itself seemed to slightly tight, if she hadn't-

Ranma's eyes widened, knocking away another thrust, as she took a closer look at her opponent.

"What.. what is is Miss Saotome? Have you decided to yield?" He hid the heavy breaths well.

"Hell no." She said with a confident grin.

"Very well! Hiiiaayyyahh!" He swung down at her!

And Ranma saw it, she didn't try and dodge, she thrust her shinai forward. With a loud sound the two collided, Ranma's sliding past his… knocking it aside, and hitting his shoulder.

"What…?" Shujin said, gasping as two of the referees held up a blue ribbon, she had gotten a point.

"I figured you out, this whole thing isn't just for some stupid show, though I'm sure that's part of it." Ranma began to move forward, now she was the one setting the pace of the match.

* * *

"One thing about him that's interesting is that he almost always wins matches in less than five minutes."

Nabiki nodded even though he couldn't see her, "Yeah? That just means he's good, right?"

"Well, yes he is good. No doubt, in terms of Kendo skills he's Ranma's superior for now. However, he has a weakness."

"And that is?"

"He's not perfect, and in general the handful of matches he loses are the ones that go on longer then that."

* * *

"You don't have any endurance at all, do you?" Ranma said, beating down on his defenses. "I can tell, your strikes are slowing and your breath is getting heavier.

"I have… no idea what you're talking about!"

"The dress. It's an impressive trick, and it's the key to your victory. You can't win a long match, so you've got to make your opponent stumble."

* * *

"So wait, how does the stupid frills help?"

"Nabiki, have you ever tried to fight in a dress?"

"I haven't tried to fight at all since I was ten Yuushi, are you speaking from experience?"

"No! Come on Nabiki. The point is, the outfit is weighted weirdly, and restrictive. Anybody thrown into it suddenly won't be able to move correctly, or at least not without time to adjust."

"Time he doesn't give them."

"Exactly. But this time his plan had a flaw, a pretty simple one. I can't believe he hasn't run into any other girl kendo players before now."

* * *

"You see," Ranma said, "You've only chucked guys into this thing before today's fight." She knocked his shinai up, nearly making it fly out of his hands, and then she thrust it straight at his chest. "But I'm a girl, I know how to move in a dress!" For a moment, everything seemed to freeze… before it made impact. Shujin was blown back, flying through the air to slam into the wall on the distant end of the gym.

Silence.

Then… finally… all three referees held up the blue ribbon, announcing to the crowd it was time to cheer.

"Ranma! Ranma! Ranma!" The Kendo club members were naturally the loudest.

Ranma pulled off her men, before grinning and waving to the crowd.

"Congrats Saotome." Nabiki walked over, "Let's see… I think you just got me a couple hundred thousand yen."

"Uh… thanks?"

"Ranma! Are you well my love!" Kuno charged past the other approaching kendo club players, "That wasn't too ooph-" Kuno unfortunately could not finish the sentence because of a sudden shinai to the face.

"Please don't spoil my victory." Ranma said.

"I… I can't… lose… like this…"

Ranma turned around to see Shujin, his own bogu seemed to be falling off, "Hey, that was a pretty good match."

"I… you… you can't have beat me. Kendo… kendo is a sport of men!"

"Uh… are you OK?"

"Reveal your true guise! I know you can not be a woman!" He jabbed Ranma in the chest with his shinai again… before Ranma could remind him that the match was over, it caused the dress… the makeshift kenbogu he had made in the shape of a dress, to fly off just as the previous one had.

In an instant every male in Furinkan had their eyes locked on to Ranma.

Ranma stood still for a moment, her jaw hanging open, whatever she had wanted to say died in her throat. Thankfully she had put on a sports bra before the match, so she was spared that bit of humiliation.

Nabiki took a photo.

"Ah… er… well…" Shujin stammered, his eyes flickering between her face and her chest, "It… ah… would seem that I was mistaken Miss Saotome… I apolog- eep!" Ranma had grabbed his shinai…. and with a loud crack snapped it two with just one hand.

She took a step towards him.

* * *

"So, how'd it go?" Yuushi asked as Ranma walked past his room.

" **All men are perverts!"**

"So does that include you half the time or…?"

"Die!" She screamed, the remains of a broken shinai impacting his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shujin Tsukuki: 收刃 "Obtain Swords" 着綺 "Wearing Beautiful Clothing"


	8. She Rose Up

It had become routine.

Ranma and Yuushi walked to school, sometimes talking, sometimes bickering, sometimes moving in total silence. Yet every day possible they left for school around the same time, and went home the same time.

Today was no different… as far as they knew.

The pair of eyes watching them, however? That was different.

**Episode 8: She Rose Up**

"Hey Ranma!" Yuka said, waving Ranma over. "Ranma!" It was Saturday, so the days classes and clubs had ended significantly earlier.

"Huh? What is it Yuka?" Ranma realized that they hadn't really talked much outside of eating lunch together.

"Well, I was wondering are you busy tonight?" Yuka said.

"Not really, something you need?"

Yuka shook her head. "No nothing important. Just wanted to know if you'd like to go out for some karaoke tonight with me and Sayuri?"

"Really? That sounds great!" Ranma had also realized that she hadn't really gone anywhere but the Tendo Dojo, the Tofu Clinic, and school.

"We'll pick you up at your place around five, sound good?"

"Sure, that sounds great, see you later then!"

As the two girls talked… they had no idea they were being watched, far off, from the shadows.

"The target is going to be separate from Prime. I repeat, the target is going to be separate from Prime." The person said.

* * *

While neither of them had been inside the Tendo Dojo before, it was a well known enough place that both Yuka and Sayuri were able to head over there without trouble.

Sayuri knocked on the door, and a moment later Kasumi answered.

"Oh. Good evening, Yuushi isn't there right now." She said.

"Uh, we're here to see Ranma." Yuka said.

"In that case she's inside."

"Thanks…?" Yuka said, the two following Kasumi into the house.

"OK what the hell is wrong with you!"

"That's Ranma, right?" Sayuri said.

"Oh dear, she and Mr. Saotome seem to be having an argument." Kasumi said.

"Do they do this often?" Yuka said.

"Um… well occasionally yes. Especially when the topic of the engagement comes up."

Kasumi lead them to the living room, there Ranma, Yuushi, Genma, and Soun seemed to be taking turns screaming at each other.

"It's for your own safety Ranma!" Genma jabbed a finger at her.

"That's a joke, right?" Ranma said.

"Yuushi! Are you really going to let your fiance go out alone?" Soun said.

"Look you stupid-"

"Uh… hi Ranma?" Yuka said.

The four people stopped shouting and stared at the new visitors.

"Who are you?" Genma asked.

"Those are the friends I'm going out with." Ranma said.

"Oh, you're uhhhh…" Yuushi said, frowning as he realized he didn't know their names."

"Yuka Inoue." She bowed.

"Name's Sayuri Kobayashi." She waved.

Genma immediately was in front of them, glaring at the two girls. Sayuri recoiled a little, but Yuka scowled at the sudden suspicious look. "Either of you girls know any martial arts?"

"Does it matter?" Yuka said, "We're going down to sing Karaoke, not enter a tournament."

"Of course it does! What kind of father would I be!"

"But… Ranma's really good." Sayuri said

"Yes. Ranma needs another competent martial artist with her. And her fiance here is just the man for the job." Soun said with a nod, "Now Yuushi, escort these ladies."

"For the last time no Dad. Let me repeat that. No. No. No. OK?"

"You will listen to your father!" Soun snapped.

"So you guys just need another martial artist right?" Ranma said.

"And it just so happens that Yuushi's the only one your age here!" Genma said with a grin, "So you've finally realized that-"

"I'll be right back." Ranma said, running past Yuushi, and picking up a sleeping dog for some reason neither Yuka nor Sayuri could understand before dashing upstairs.

"I thought you said that Yuushi wasn't home?" Yuka said to Kasumi.

"I, um, asked Kasumi to not tell girls I was home…" Yuushi said, "I mean… after that… err…" He blushed, "I don't want to talk about the reason!"

"Humph." Genma snorted, apparently having lost interest in the two girls.

"OK I'm back." Ranma said, dragging another girl with her.

"What?" Genma and Soun's jaw's dropped, "Where did she come from!" Genma shouted.

"You guys said another martial artist right? Well then Kibako will be coming with us."

"Wait that's what you dragged me here for!?" Kibako said.

"We don't mind." Sayuri said.

"But wait a minute! You can't just-" Genma suddenly felt two hands squeeze his shoulders, Ranma and Yuushi were on both sides of him.

"I swear, if you say something retarded like girls needing a guy to watch over them I will join Ranma in kicking your ass." Yuushi said, and Ranma nodded.

Genma looked between his daughter and (hopefully) future son-in-law… and with a sigh decided that any further argument would just end in pain for him. "Fine! Don't blame me if anything happens!"

"Come on Kibako." Ranma said, grabbing her arm, "See you Kasumi!"

"Bye Ranma." Kasumi waved, and the four girls left.

"Glad that's over with." Yuushi sat back down and reached for the TV remote. "Wait…" He glanced around the room. "Where'd Misty go?"

* * *

"So this is Kibako. She's an old friend of mine from middle school."

"Why'd you fight her if she's a friend?" Yuka asked.

"Cause that's what we do! It was just a spar, right Kibako?" She slapped Kibako on the back. Kibako didn't say anything, she just glanced at Sayuri."

"Have we met before?" Kibako asked.

"You asked me where Ranma lived." Sayuri said.

"Oh right. Thanks for that." Kibako said, "So what exactly are you dragging me to Ranma?"

"Karaoke." Ranma said, "Sounds fun right?"

"I guess." Kibako said, not wanting to admit she had never done that before.

"So…" Sayuri said, "What was that about?"

"That argument? It's that stupid engagement they keep trying to shove on me." Ranma said, with a groan.

"You know Ranma, you're still the envy of like, over half the girls in school." Yuka said.

Ranma groaned, "Please don't remind me. I'm just glad they've given up on harassing me over it."

"What?" Kibako said.

"Oh yeah you wouldn't know." Yuka said, "Yuushi is pretty much the single most popular guy in school."

"Yeah, lots of girls swoon over him." Sayuri said.

"Th-they do…?" Kibako said with a frown.

"Yeah. It's easy to see why. He's good looking, when he does martial arts he looks really cool. And he's pretty nice!" Sayuri continued.

"And he's a busybody, he's rude, thinks he's better than he is…" Ranma muttered under her breath.

"Y-yeah I guess he seems like that." Kibako muttered.

"Oh yeah and he's stupidly short tempered! He'll get mad a lot over dumb things!" Ranma said, louder this time.

The other three girls stared at her.

"I feel sorry for Yuushi, to have a fiance who doesn't appreciate him." Kibako finally said.

"Can we just not talk about it?" Ranma said, "Please? Me and Yuushi may not agree on a lot of things. But one thing we do agree on, we're not getting married."

"Sure, we could always talk about other things." Yuka said, a grin forming, "Like the kind of music you like!"

As the conversation shifted to music and other hobbies, a shadow in the distance lowered their binoculars. "The target has for companions. One of which is known factor Sigma, the other's have unknown capabilities. But have been known to eat lunch with the target."

* * *

Fortunately, it wasn't that hard to reach the karaoke place, a few minutes of Yuka insisting that she pay (and Ranma promising to bring some more money next time) and they got a karaoke box to rent.

" _Don't mind, China boy! Your smile's a million to one!"_ Sayuri was apparently a really good singer, she had pretty much stolen the show while Ranma and Yuka cheered her on.

Kibako however, was standing in the corner, a frown on her face. She had yet to actually participate in any of the activity beyond a few words when asked.

"Hey, aren't you going to sing?" Yuka asked.

"Ah… err… I don't know any music." Kibako muttered, "It's hard to learn anything when you're in the woods half the time. "

"Well it's not like you need to memorize the lyrics, they tell you them over on the screen." Ranma said.

Kibako glared at Ranma, "And let you laugh at my bad singing? No way Ranma."

To her surprise, Ranma actually looked a little hurt. "Come on Kibako…"

"You just dragged me along to end a stupid argument with your stupid dad."

Ranma leaned in close, whispering so the others couldn't hear. "Look… come on. Don't be a sourpuss. Have some fun, make some friends… better than hanging around as a dog most of the time."

"Listen here Ranma-" KIbako's newest tirade was interrupted by the sound of the door to their box opening and something being tossed inside.

It had the appearance of a melon paper ball, both Ranma and Kibako glanced down at it… and it suddenly cracked open, white smoke pouring out of it!

"Some… kind of gas…!" Ranma began coughing… and Yuka and Sayuri fell down within a moment of it reaching them. "This… ack… what the…?" Ranma fell back against the wall, slumping over. "Kibako… this…" Then she was out too.

Kibako was the last one to keep conscious, gritting her teeth and holding her breath. She fell to her knees, keeping herself propped up with a chair. Even then it wasn't enough… her vision became blurry and she felt herself blackout… just in time to see someone enter the karaoke box… and laugh.

* * *

The next thing Kibako knew, she was being shaken awake… "Wha…?" She opened her eyes and saw Yuka leaning over her. "Oh… umm… what happened?"

"I don't know! We were singing, you and Ranma were talking when… we were… I dunno, knocked out by something!"

Kibako groaned, she had a headache. Like she was hungover, she sat up, noticing that she had fallen on top of the homemade looking gas bomb. It was a little crushed but still recognizable. "So… I'm guessing that this isn't a normal karaoke experience."

"Not in the slightest." Sayuri said, "Also, Ranma's not here."

Kibako groaned, "Great." Just what she needed.

"You… you don't think whoever did this was after Ranma, do you?" Sayuri said.

"Yeah that's a pretty safe bet. Well, either that or this is all a hilarious misunderstanding and Ranma's just outside with the cameras." Kibako felt a little annoyed at this. Ranma was her arch enemy, nobody else was allowed to grab her! Especially with such a dirty trick like that. If Kibako had wanted to kidnap Ranma for whatever reasons she'd do it up front, pound her into unconsciousness and take her away.

"What should we do?" Yuka said.

"Isn't it obvious!" Sayuri shouted, "We need to head back to the Tendo Dojo!"

"Uh… why?" Kibako asked.

"Because… well… we need to get help for Ranma!"

"Oh hell no." Yuka said, "Remember that fight? We need to fix this without Ranma's dad knowing, or she'll never be able to go out again!" She put her hands on Kibako's shoulders, "You're Ranma's friend, right?"

"Actually no. I hate her."

"Then why did she drag you along?" Sayuri said

"Don't ask me to explain her mindset!" Kibako said.

"Well, um… look! You were attacked! Are you going to let that stand?" Yuka said.

"No. No I'm not." Kibako stood up. "And besides, Ranma's mine to attack and beat up!" She clenched her fists and pumped them in the air.

"Yeah!" Sayuri said, "I'm sure you, a martial artist and outdoorswoman, can easily track down Ranma's kidnapper!"

Kibako's arms lowered… a deep frown forming on her face.

* * *

"Did you forget something?" Kasumi said.

"Can… can you just get Yuushi? And keep it a secret, please?" Kibako said, blushing after having the two girls lead her back to the dojo.

"That isn't too difficult, I'll be right back." Kasumi said, leaving them waiting in an awkward silence. Fortunately it didn't last long. Kasumi came back shortly, Yuushi in tow.

"What is it? Did Ranma forget something?" Yuushi said.

"We think somebody kidnapped her!" Yuka said.

"What."

"Somebody threw some kind of gas bomb, and when we woke up Ranma was gone!" Sayuri added.

"A gas bomb?"

"I have it here." Kibako held it up to Yuushi.

Yuushi took the remains of the bomb, examining it. As he did his expression grew… well it was a strange mix of frustration and revulsion. Finally, he sighed. "Oh god damn it. OK. I know who did this." He walked past the girls, "Follow me, I'll take you there. Oh, right, Yuka? Sayuri? This might be a little dangerous." He glanced back at them, "Can you two just wait at the gates when we get there? I don't want you taken hostage or anything."

"That's fine…" Sayuri said, "But where exactly are we heading?"

Yuushi shuddered, "The Kuno mansion."

* * *

Ranma groaned, her vision slowly came back.

She was in a fairly dim room, various devices and what looked like gymnastic equipment were scattered around. This was new, she had never been knocked out by gas and dragged somewhere before. She stood up and realized there were two heavy things hanging from her wrists. Chains, to be exact, thick steel chains around three feet long that kept her attached to the wall.

"A brute like yourself couldn't hope to break those chains." A voice said, stepping out of the shadows, "So I wouldn't entertain any thoughts of escape." It was a girl, seemingly about Ranma's age, though she was a fair bit taller than her. Her long black hair was tied up in a large side ponytail. She wore a school uniform, but not Furinkan's.

"So…" Ranma said, moving her hands behind her back. "Is this about something my dad did? Because going after me isn't going to get his debt paid, he'll just skip out of the country for a while."

"What? Do not speak such foolishness, I know exactly who I was after! And that person is you, Ranma Saotome!"

"Well then, that's great." Ranma said, "So… what is it? What on earth did I do to you to deserve… this?" She began digging through her back pocket with one hand.

To Ranma's surprise this seemed to get her mad. "What is it? What is it!? How dare you say such a thing! To plead ignorance against this is the worst crime! Truly you are the basest of the base."

"No seriously. I have no idea who the hell you are and why you're pissed at me."

"You… you really do not know?"

"No!"

"But that's preposterous! Surely I must have been mentioned! You have to have heard of me!" The woman stomped closer to her, but sadly not close enough for Ranma to punch or kick. "You… you… you who has tried to steal the love of my life! How dare you say you do not know me!"

The gears in Ranma's head clicked together, and her eyes widened in horror. "Oh god. This is about Yuushi, isn't it."

" **Do not speak his name so casually!"** She screamed, "You… you think you can react like that! Yuushi… my beloved Yuushi Tendo… he was mine! My lover! My future husband! And then you waltz in with… with your ridiculous figure and seduce him away from me!" She clenched her fists, panting in rage. "But.. .now… now I'll get even. I'll save him from you… yes…."

The lights turned on.

"I, Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose of St. Bacchus… I will rid my darling Yuushi of you so he can return to my embrace once and for all!"

"Kodachi… Kuno… oh no. Oh _no."_ Ranma said, her eyes darting around the room. For she saw the remaining decorations in this room, one she had missed in the dark. Namely, pictures of Yuushi. Dozens of them, many of them blown up to poster size. Pictures of him walking to school, pictures of him practicing martial arts, eating lunch, sleeping! A picture of him shirtless doing a form had been spread across the entire eastern wall! "Please… tell me if you're related to Tatewaki Kuno…"

"You know of my elder brother and yet you still claim not to know me!"

"Nobody's ever mentioned you to me you lunatic!"

"Don't you dare lie! There is no way my beloved would just forget to mention me when being hounded by another woman!"

* * *

"Wow, I had no idea Upperclassman Kuno was so rich." Yuka said, they had reached the Kuno residence. It was a large mansion around the size of their school. The grounds was a massive garden that almost looked like a small forest.

"Yeah… he's kind of loaded. Why do you think Nabiki spends all that time around him?" Yuushi said.

"Oh, yeah that makes sense." Sayuri said.

"So what now?" Kibako said.

"We're going in, while they stay here and wait."

"What's wrong with it? I mean, Upperclassman Kuno is a bit weird, yeah, but he's not dangerous." Sayuri asked.

"It's not Kuno I'm worried about." Yuushi said with clenched teeth.

* * *

 

"Look. I don't know what little fantasy you have, but maybe Yuushi didn't mention you to me because he doesn't like you. I mean… you took a whole lot of creepy voyeuristic pictures of him and all." Ranma said, her hands still behind her back.

"I laugh at your ignorance. I did not take these photographs."

"Then where did you get them?"

"I purchased them from one Nabiki Tendo, at a very affordable rate." Kodachi said, almost with pride at finding a bargain.

"That's…." Ranma said after a minute of silence, "Really… interesting. And creepy. Mostly creepy." Ranma was going to have to talk with Nabiki about encouraging stalkers.

"It is an expression of my deep and profound love for him." Kodachi said, "Now, you can sit here and rot! Surrounded by the beauty you can never have… while I go be with my daring Yuushi for the rest of our days! Ohohohohohohohohoho!"

"Oh hell no." Ranma dropped the chains, which she had been holding behind her back for some time, and charged at Kodachi. She swung a fist at her, but it was evaded by a quick leap back.

"H-how did you escape!?"

"Hah! You really think those stupid things can hold me!" She said with a grin. Growing up with Genma did have its advantages, one of those was learning how to pick the locks of shackles with a hairpin she kept in her back pocket.

"Very well! I underestimated you, I will simply have to beat you until you can not move from here!" With a flourish, Kodachi threw off her uniform, revealing a green leotard underneath. Twirling a gymnast's ribbon around, she flicked it in Ranma's direction. "You fall tonight, Ranma Saotome!"

"Bring it!"

* * *

"Don't get near that plant, it eats things."

"R-right…" Kibako stepped away from the innocent looking tree. The two of them had been marching through the Kuno garden, Yuushi pointing out every dangerous thing in it. He had been particularly adamant they stay as far away from the pond as possible, a "Mr. Green Turtle" lived there and was apparently very dangerous. Personally Kibako just wanted to avoid water. "You've been here before?"

"Unfortunately." Yuushi said, "It's kind of a pain but-" He stopped, "Wait… OK. Show yourselves guys."

"Huh…?" Kibako said, before over two dozen Ninjas appeared, surrounding them both. "What!?"

"Good evening Master Tendo." A rather short Ninja said, landing a foot in front of them and bowing.

"Hey Sasuke." Yuushi said, "So… I'm guessing that Kuno was the last one to give you guys orders huh."

"That is the case."

"Great." Yuushi glanced back at Kibako, "You ever fight ninjas before?"

"No…?"

"Well then consider this training." Yuushi said, just before all the ninjas but Sasuke leapt up, weapons drawn.

* * *

Kodachi apparently could use that ribbon of hers like a whip. Ranma was learning this the hard way, as she had not been able to get close to her opponent. Instead Kodachi was using the advantage of reach to keep out of the way and constantly hitting Ranma with it.

Each strike wasn't much, it stung but it didn't do a ton of damage. But Ranma could tell that if she didn't figure out a way to end this or change the flow of the fight then it would end with her worn down to nothing.

"It really is futile, there's no possible way you can defeat me! I, Kodachi Kuno, have never lost a fight!" Kodachi said, flinging the ribbon forward again.

"Hah!" But this time Ranma was ready, she lashed out, grabbing it! "Come here you…!" Ranma gave the ribbon a tug, However, Kodachi just let go of it. However, Ranma had been expecting this, the main purpose had been to deprive her of the weapon.

Then Ranma noticed that the end of the ribbon's wand had a small sphere attached to it… and a fuse. "What!?" Ranma quickly threw it away from her, just in time for it to explode! "What the hell?"

"And you call yourself a martial artist! You should be prepared for anything!" Kodachi said.

"People don't generally expect explosives!"

"Exactly! Those short sighted fools! They never expect anything beyond the norm!" Kodachi pulled out a gymnastics ball. "They never expect me to show up before the match starts and win then!" She tossed it at Ranma's head with a kick.

"That's… that's generally what we call cheating." Ranma said, quickly holding her arms up in front of her head to block the projectile… only for a massive weight to slam into her, knocking her down and only barely not smashing straight into her head. "Ugh!"

"And that is why you are inferior, didn't even think that I might have filled the ball with steel pellets." She kicked up another ball, hurling it at Ranma again. This time Ranma didn't try to block it, she twisted to the left, letting it sail harmlessly past her. She stuck her tongue out at Kodachi.

Then the ball exploded behind her, blowing her onto the ground again."Ow…"

"Such pitiful ignorance!" Kodachi laughed, procuring a hoop, "You're not worthy to even clean the floor of my beloved's dojo!" She tossed the hoop at Ranma!

"Oh hell no." Ranma growled, "Not this time." Nearby was the pellet filled ball, she kicked it up into the air, sending it flying on a course towards the hoop! And just as Ranma expected, the hoop had a trick, namely it sliced through the ball.. cutting it clean in half. Its trick known, Ranma swerved out the way, watching it embed itself into a wall. The steel pellets from the ball scattered across the floor, which gave Ranma an idea.

"Humph! Let us see you handle them all at once! Behold the Black Rose Endless Barrage!"

* * *

The last ninja fell unconscious to Kibakos umbrella. "And you do this every time you come over here?"

"No, only about half the time." Yuushi said, "Not that I come here often." He grabbed Kibako's hand. "Come on."

"Ahh… Y-yuushi what are you doing?" He was holding her hand he was holding her hand!

" _Come on. Let's go… somewhere private."_

"Ahhh ahhhhhhhhh…." Kibako's face turned red.

"Kibako?"

"Y-yes?"

"You have a bad sense of direction, right? This place can be a maze." Yuushi said.

"R-right! Thank you!" Kibako stammered. "OK Kibako, calm down. He's just guiding you… guiding you.." _while holding hands!_

That was just the first step! First it was hand holding, then dates, then spending time together not saying anything, then kissing and then… and then…!

"Kibako!" Yuushi said, "Your nose is bleeding!"

"Oh… um… sorry! Guess a ninja got a hit in ahahahahahahaha!" Kibako pulled a bandana out of her hair and covered her nose. "Let's just keep going!"

"Right…" Yuushi resumed walking, "So, Kibako, you've been around my place a lot."

"Y-yeah… I mean…"

"Glad to see you and Ranma are getting along." Yuushi said. "Our dads just keep trying stupid stuff and you know, it's nice to see you help her out." He smiled, "Anyways, I think Kodachi's side of the house is over here!" He pulled open a door.

"...or not." Yuushi said. Kibako's jaw dropped in unison to his, they had stumbled across a bedroom… Kuno's bedroom, judging by how he was in it. But that wasn't what shocked them. It was the photos. Pictures of Ranma were plastered around the room… a few of her sparring with Genma, some of her eating, a few in class, and one of her asleep. The one of her sleeping had been posted over Kuno's futon. "God damn it Nabiki."

"Tendo!" Kuno said, picking up his bokken, "I should have known this day would come. The day when you finally toss aside the frail pretense of honor and strike me when I sleep! But that was a foolish endeavor, for you see Yuushi Tendo, the Blue Thunder never sleeps!"

"Wait really? Wow that explains so-"

" **Of course I sleep you fool!** It was a way of expressing my eternal vigilance!"

"Err, right. Anyways, Kuno, you've got this wrong. I'm here because-"

"Silence! I will not hear a single word of your lies any longer!" Kuno said, swinging down at Yuushi.

"Damn it Kuno! Just listen for a moment!"

"The time for listening is over Tendo! You can not avoid the fates, you shall fall tonight!" He brought down the bokken, aiming for Yuushi's head!

With a loud clack it stopped.

"Hmm? Miss… who are you?"

"Yuushi, you go get Ranma. I'll handle this pervert." Kibako said, her umbrella blocking Kuno's swing.

"Pardon me… you are a woman right? You seem rather mannish… those arms are far too muscular to be properly feminine. I understand that women flock to me, but I shall have to reject your date offer."

Kibako's eye twitched.

* * *

Ranma was surprised that she could throw so many things at once. Hoops, balls, clubs, ropes, they filled the air between them. Each one not normal. Not only explosive balls and razor hoops, but the ropes had bombs attached to them and the pins exploded into nets among other tricks.

Yet not one had touched Ranma since she had started, much to Kodachi's frustration. "You're not supposed to do that! How dare you use my equipment!"

Ranma had been scooping up steel pellets from the remains of some of the balls and flicking them at Kodachi's projectiles as they came, disabling them or revealing their trick before they could even get close. Granted, Kodachi had learned quickly and now the only balls tossed her way were the ones that were filled with gunpowder or that were in fact on fire, but Ranma had plenty of material to work with.

Plus the boomerang pins came back if they didn't blow up, so she got two or three uses out of those.

"Honestly, are you seriously accusing me of cheating?" Ranma said, as they slowly circled around the room.

"Silence!" Koachi pulled out two more razor hoops, "You can not last forever, I have an unlimited supply of gear! **I bought out a factory!"** She threw the two hoops, both of them spinning towards Ranma!

Ranma smirked, "More money than sense I see." She had been waiting for her to toss another one of those since they had gotten into position. She twisted a little to the left, flicking one last pellet at the left hoop. Rather than hit the razor edge, she knocked it onto a different course! Spinning behind Ranma… it sliced through one of the chains that had held Ranma against the wall! "There we go!" Ranma quickly picked up the chain. "Hey, Kodachi, one question."

Kodachi frowned, "What is it?"

"How much you weigh?"

"I fail to see what that has to do with our fight!" She said.

"This!" Ranma snapped the cut chain forward, it flew out at an incredible speed! The shackle impacted against Kodachi's wrist, slamming shut. "That's one problem solved." She said, giving the chain a nice hard tug.

"How dare yooouaaahhh!" Kodachi was lurched forward, flying at ridiculous speeds right into Ranma's fist. It was one of the more satisfying punches Ranma had delivered in her opinion.

"Now then." Ranma said, pulling the chain up and flinging Kodachi into the wall. "Let's lay down a few ground rules."

"I will not-" WHAM! She hit the floor this time.

"Well, it's really more of one rule." Ranma began spinning Kodachi around over her head, "Should be simple enough for you to get." She kept spinning, before suddenly swinging Kodachi up and down, slamming her against the ceiling and floor with each word. "Stay." THUD! "Away." WHAM! "From." BLAM! "My." CRUNCH. "Fiance!" She let go of the chain, flinging Kodachi off into the eastern wall. She slowly slid down to the floor… before the the oversized picture that hung their shook… and fell on top of her, finally bringing her into blissful unconsciousness. "There we go… wait… what did I just say!?"

Then the door opened. "Ranma! Are you in… here…" Yuushi stopped and stared at the state of the room, and the state of Ranma. Her clothing had several tears in it, and some scorch marks as well. The room itself was worse, hoops and pins embedded into the ground with several things on fire.

"What did you hear!?" Ranma said.

"Uh… nothing? This room is soundproofed."

"Oh… good… wait…" Ranma's eyes narrowed, "Did you come to rescue me?"

"W-what? No! Why the hell would anyone rescue you of all people!"

"Then what the hell are you doing here!"

"Is that any of your business! Maybe I just felt like it!"

"Please we both know that's stupid! You did! You idiot!"

"As if! Nobody needs to rescue you or wants to! Frankly if you were taken away I'd throw a party!"

"Well guess what asshole! You're stuck with me!"

"Oh great, just what I needed!"

"Nnnggg… Yuushi…?" Both Ranma and Yuushi froze as consciousness returned to Kodachi, poking out from the large photo. "I… hear… your-" WHAM! One smack to the head from Ranma and she was back asleep.

A silence followed.

"Er…. Yuka and Sayuri were worried about you." Yuushi said.

"Fine fine…" Ranma grumbled, the presence of Kodachi shaking the fight out of them. "Anyways, got one more thing to do. Lifting up the poster, she grabbed the chain, dragging Kodachi to the one still attached to the wall. She then attached the shackle to Kodachi's other arm. "Can you help me find the key to these things?"

"They… uh…" Yuushi looked around, "They're over there, I think." He pointed to a chest in the corner with a hoop embedded into it.

"You've been here before?"

"Unfortunately."

Ranma pulled open the chest, sure enough there was a box labeled 'Chains of Love ' with a sigh she opened it and pulled out a key. After checking with the broken chain that it was the right key, she crushed it. "OK let's get out of here."

* * *

"Kibako?" Yuushi peeked into Kuno's room, taking care to not let Ranma see the pictures. He just wanted to get home and Ranma murdering Kuno would just slow things down. Kibako was not in the room, just the unconscious body of Kuno. "Oh come on…"

"She was here?"

"Yeah. She was worried about you, you know?" Yuushi said, "She fought off Kuno, but she seems to have gotten lost."

"Well, she'll turn up again eventually. Maybe." Ranma said with a tired shrug. "Come on, I just want to finish karaoke."

* * *

 

"Yuushi?" Kibako said, "Yuushi!?" She frowned, she had beaten up that creepy Kuno and then when she had turned around he had vanished, and the walls… and… "That's a tree." She said, poking the tree. "I'm outside. Great. How did I get outside?" She looked around, the place didn't look familiar. "Yuushi? Ranma?"

Silence, nobody was nearby to respond.

"Great. Just great." She sighed, "Well, I guess I'll just need to find it again!" She clenched her fists together, "You can do it Kibako Hibiki!" With a determined look, she marched on to find the Tendo Dojo.

By sheer coincidence she was heading the exact opposite direction she needed to.

* * *

 

Ranma had met up with her friends, laughs had been had, hugs had been given, and Yuushi had headed back to the dojo.

Yuushi quietly opened the door, slipping into the house. Soun and Genma weren't anywhere to be found, and Nabiki usually went to bed around this hour barring other appointments. That left…

"So you're finally back." Kasumi said, "How'd it go?"

Yuushi sighed, "I didn't need to do anything."

At this Kasumi giggled, "Well, even if that's the case, good job all the same." She patted her little brother on the head. It didn't exactly have the same effect as it did when they were younger, she had been taller then him then.

"Well, thanks anyways."

* * *

"What do you mean we have to pay again!" Ranma shouted.

The clerk at the front desk shrugged, "You rented the box for an hour."

"I was kidnapped by a crazy stalker! Doesn't that count for something!"

"Look Miss, there's no kidnapping clause in the rental agreement."

"Damn it!"

"Ranma…" Sayuri said, "We could go do something else…?"


	9. Photogenic Combat

By most people's standards, dealing with both Kuno's at once would be a bad day.

"That harlot destroyed half my collection!"

"How dare you refer to my beloved in such a fashion!"

"I swear I will strike you down, elder brother or not!"

"Kuno-Baby, Ko-Babe, please." However, most people were not Nabiki Tendo. She flashed a collection of photographs like a dealer with her cards, "I have a fresh batch right here. Five thousand yen each."

"Deal!" Both Kunos said at once.

**Episode 9: Photogenic Combat**

Ranma had been trying to think of a way to bring it up for the past few days. It was awkward, bringing up what was surely a massive betrayal of trust. Not that Ranma knew what having an older sister was like, but she was pretty selling beefcake shots of her younger brother was not in the cards.

Finally, in the middle of Kendo practice, she finally isolated Yuushi in the corner and revealed it, quietly. "Hey… Yuushi. I learned something a bit disturbing…"

Yuushi raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Err… well… Nabiki's been selling photos of you." Ranma expected anger, shock, betrayal.

Not a sigh and shrug. "That's all?"

"Wait… did you know?" Ranma said.

"Yeah. I knew. It's not exactly a secret." Yuushi said.

"Ranma, around half the girls at school have at least one photo of me." Yuushi said.

"Indeed. It is truly tragic, to see the fair maidens of Furinkan ensnared with Tendo's twisted games, trapped in an endless cycle of lust while he gleefully leads them on." Kuno spoke up, overhearing their conversation.

"You're one to talk Kuno." Yuushi said, before suddenly paling and glancing over to Ranma. "Err wait. Kuno OK you're fi-"

"Foolish Tendo! My tokens of my affection towards my love are nothing but the expression of the purest affection and love! I simply can not bear to be without the sight of you, Ranma my love, for too long!"

The entire Kendo club froze, everybody realized that something had been said that should not be said.

"Wait… Kuno. Did… did you just say what I thought you just said?" Ranma said, "You… you have pictures of me… and… did you buy them from Nabiki?"

Kuno frowned. His mind began to process Ranma's expression, which was oddly blank. It was almost as if Ranma wouldn't be happy to hear this! Wait, of course not! She would never disapprove of his devotion! And such his thought process went. "Of course my love. Nabiki is the only purveyor of such things."

"I see." She dropped the shinai. "Captain, I'll be leaving early today." She bowed to Yuushi, before heading to the locker room.

After a minute's silence Ikari spoke up, "Hey… Captain? I think you should go make sure Ranma doesn't murder your sister."

* * *

Ice cream was just what was needed to brighten up Nabiki's already good day. She went with just vanilla for today, licking the cone she looked out onto the bright and sunny world. It truly was a perfect day.

"Nabiki!"

"Hmm?" Nabiki glanced to the left, Ranma was there, running towards her. "I thought practice didn't end for another half an hour." She thought about it for a moment, before shrugging. Maybe she just needed something from her. "Afternoon Saotome."

"Why… the hell… are you taking photos of me and selling them to Kuno!" Ranma said, shouting into the Nabiki's face.

"Oh. You found out about that." Nabiki held up her ice cream cone, "Because I can get ten of these by selling him one photo."

"That's not a good answer!" Ranma said, "Kuno's creepily obsessed with me! if I couldn't kick his ass who knows what he'd do!"

"Actually Saotome I'm pretty sure he's obsessed with you because you can kick his ass, just saying."

"You're encouraging him! And Kodachi! She's stalking your younger brother, and you sell her softcore porn?"

"Hey!" Nabiki actually looked offended, "I do not do that. At most I sell tasteful shots of him without a shirt. I've never brought a camera into his bath or anything like that. I have standards you know."

"Could have fooled me."

"Anyways, as riveting as this conversation is Saotome, I have places to me and you have people to deal with." Nabiki said with an exaggerated yawn.

"What are you talking about?" Ranma said.

Nabiki pulled a squirt gun out of her pocket, spraying Ranma with it. "Hey there Kuno-Baby! He's trying to stop me from getting photos!"

"What."

"You! I should have known you'd show your cowardly face again!" Kuno had followed Ranma, and was now charging at him. "I will not permit you to hold Ranma in your vile clutches any longer!"

"See ya Saotome. Please be gentle with Kuno-baby." Nabiki said, turning around and walking off with her ice cream.

* * *

"Let's see…" Nabiki's pencil moved over her little ledger. "With the latest fad I can easily make-"

With loud bang the door to her room slammed open, Nabiki glanced behind her and smirked. "Oh dear, there's a strange man in my room."

"Can it Nabiki." Ranma said with a growl. He did not look happy, his hair was messed up and his clothing had telltale cuts, courtesy of Kuno.

"So, what can I do for you today?"

"You can stop taking voyeuristic photos of people and selling them for snack funds."

Nabiki's response was to roll her eyes. "Sorry Saotome, I won't unless you compensate me for all the lost profit, and trust me you can't afford that." The next thing Nabiki knew she was being lifted by by her collar, Ranma pulling her right up to his face, Ranma's male form actually being tall enough to do that.

"How about if you don't I pound you into the dirt?"

If Nabiki was threatened, she didn't show it. "Oh my. And here I thought you were raised better than that Saotome. Threatening violence against those who can't defend themselves, not something I thought Martial Artists did."

"Oh come on, you expect me to believe that. You live with one of the better martial artists I've seen! Your family owns a dojo!" Ranma said.

"Ask Yuushi. Haven't done anything like that since I was ten. Honestly no guy wants a girl who can beat him up. Well, no normal guy at least."

For a moment there was silence, a tense stand off as Ranma continued to glare at Nabiki. Before finally clicking his tongue in annoyance he let go of her. "This isn't over." He said, leaving her room. "I may not have any hold on you, but I know a guy who does!"

"Just keep digging that grave Saotome." Nabiki went back to her money.

* * *

"Mr. Tendo?"

Soun had been in the middle of a game of Shogi with Genma, both fathers looked up to see Ranma.

Genma raised an eyebrow, Ranma was wearing a dress, there were only two reasons Ranma ever wore a dress. She wanted something from Soun and was going to butter him up. Soun of course, did not know his daughter like he did, so he simply nodded, "What is it Ranma?"

"Well…" Ranma said quietly and politely, she had even tied up her hair for the first time since her cut, twirling a ponytail in her fingers. "It's about Nabiki…"

"Nabiki?" Soun said, already sliding into putty, "What did she do Ranma? I know she's kind of a tough girl to get along with, is she bullying you! Oh I'm so sorry if she did something mean to you!"

"Well Mr. Tendo… it's not that bad. It's just that she's been leading this guy on about me. I don't want to be harassed, I'm engaged you know?" She said innocently as Soun nodded and Genma rolled his eyes. "She's been talking pictures of me and selling them to him! Do you think you could talk to your daughter and get her to stop? Please?" Ranma said clutching both her hands together and giving Soun some wide pleading eyes.

"Of course! I'll go speak with Nabiki right away! Forgive me Saotome, we shall finish this game later." Soun said, standing up and running off.

Genma gave Ranma a low stare, "Girl that was irritatingly coy and manipulative."

"And pray tell, who raised me to think such things were appropriate?" Ranma said in reply.

"Touché my daughter."

* * *

"I'm home." Yuushi announced, entering the dojo. The day's practice had been rather uneventful once Kuno and Ranma had run off.

Hopefully the fallout would be over with and things wouldn't explode and Nabiki wouldn't enter another one of her vengeance moods. He entered the living room to see Ranma and Genma playing Shogi instead of the usual sight of his father playing with the man. Also the game of Shogi was interspersed with absurd attempts to hit the other player. (Where did Genma get that hockey stick?) Also, Ranma was wearing a dress. Yuushi realized that this was the first time he had seen Ranma wear a dress. She had even managed to get Dr. Tofu to sign off on wearing that red chinese outfit to school for "Medical Reasons."

_She looks pretty good in a dress_. Yuushi promptly took that thought and repressed it. "Where's Dad?"

"Having a talk with Nabiki." Ranma said, deflecting Genma's chopstick attack and setting down her Silver General.

Yuushi groaned, "That's your master plan Ranma? Oh gee, why didn't I ever think of talking to Dad about it?"

"Well, why didn't you?" Genma asked, pulling a chain from somewhere, only to have it knocked out of his hands as Ranma captured his pawn.

"Because Dad's kind of spineless." Yuushi said.

"He has a point. Tendo never did do very well in confrontation." Genma said.

"What are you two doing anyway?" Yuushi asked.

"It's a thing we picked up at a temple in Sanyodo." Ranma said, "Martial Arts Practice Shogi. If the opponent can get a hit on you they get an extra turn. No using fists or game pieces either."

"It's meant to train multitasking." Genma said, "Even as you concentrate on the game you have to watch out for your opponent making a strike while getting in your own hits." With a wince he noticed Ranma had hit him a pencil! "Been meaning to teach it to Tendo, but… well, he seems to have gotten a bit soft in the years since I've known him."

Yuushi sighed, "Tell me about it…"

It was then that Soun came down stairs, his gaze glassy and tears running down his face. Nabiki followed behind him, whistling some pop song tune.

"Er… Mr. Tendo?" Ranma said, "You, ah, talked with Nabiki yes?"

"Oh yes we talked Saotome." Nabiki said with a innocent smile. "We had a nice chat about all the money I've lent him and how I was going to be so generous in not calling in his debts. Because we're family, right Daddy?"

"Y-y-yes my darling daughter." Soun said with the voice of a man who had lost all hope.

"Oh come on!" Ranma said.

Then Genma hit her with the hockey stick.

* * *

In the end Genma won, for while they were pretty evenly matched in terms of smacking each other with random objects, he was far better at Shogi then Ranma.

Yuushi had gone off to do his homework, hoping that now this entire issue would come to rest he house would have peace. Just as he was settling into English he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

"Coming in!" Ranma announced, opening the door. She had removed the dress and was now wearing a tank top and shorts. Yuushi groaned inwardly, what was with her sudden wardrobe changes today?

"Normally people ask for permission before they enter somebody's room Ranma." Yuushi said.

"Want to go spar?" Ranma said, ignoring his chastisement. "We haven't done that since like, the day I got here."

"We spar every day."

Ranma scoffed, "That's **Kendo.** I'm talking about a real Punch Each Other in The Face Anything Goes Spar." Genma liked to get Ranma training early in the morning, while Yuushi did his practice in the evening after school. As such there hadn't been any time for sparring between the two of them.

Yuushi had to admit he was interested in seeing if he had improved any. He had in fact been upping the intensity of his practice, even as his dad slacked off to hang out with Genma. Sparring with Ranma in Kendo had helped, he thought, largely because Ranma was terrifyingly fast so just struggling to keep a step ahead of her in Kendo was intense speed training. He had actually timed himself with a punching bag and a stopwatch and he could punch a fair bit faster now with the same amount of power.

"Sure. Let me just get a gi on."

* * *

"Ready?" Ranma said, "I think we should start with some warm ups."

"Sure…" Yuushi said, Ranma was still wearing the tank top, he could see the edges of the sports bra she had on. It was starting to get distracting. "Do you not have a gi?"

"It kind of got wrecked when I got the curse." Ranma said with a shrug, "I haven't been able to wear clothing that actually fit me right in any situation where I might get wet."

Yuushi opened with a quick jab, Ranma of course casually deflected it before throwing out her own kick. Yuushi dodged it, proving she was holding back as part of the 'warm up.' "Right, the curse."

"It sucks." Ranma said, "I can't wear pretty clothes, makeup, or any of that stuff without the risk of a random splash making me look like a crossdresser." She threw out three quick jabs, Yuushi blocked two but the other hit him in the shoulder.

"You wore that dress today." He got in close, trying for a grapple. It didn't work, Ranma pulled away before he could get a grip on her.

"Yeah after making sure no water got anywhere near me." Ranma said, "For all the good it did me. What the hell is up with your dad anyways?" She got his side with a kick.

Yuushi sighed at the thought of his father. "Well, it's complicated. He never really recovered from my mom's death."

Ranma stopped the spar for a moment. "Oh… sorry."

Yuushi brushed it off with a punch aimed at her head, "It's not a problem. It happened six years ago. I miss her yeah, but the three of us moved on, unlike dad."

"So he's still mourning?" She knocked his fist aside.

"Yeah. He used to be a lot worse. The first two years he basically was in a coma. He stopped doing pretty much everything. I had to keep up my practice myself."

"Seriously?" Ranma actually stumbled at hearing that, not that it let Yuushi get a hit in. "So what, your training stagnated for two years?"

"Yeah. On my twelfth birthday me and Kasumi dragged Dad to the dojo, she locked us in and I just kept hitting him until he started fighting back and training me again." He let out three quick strikes, but Ranma didn't let him get in even a single hit. "Are you trying to distract me or something?" Fighting Ranma in that outfit… it wasn't exactly easy.

To his surprise Ranma looked a little guilty, "Err what do you mean?"

"Nothing, nothing." Yuushi said, keeping his eyes on Ranma's face. He noticed that Ranma seemed to be looking behind him. Was he really so easy that she needed to distract herself? He scowled, he would show her!

Before he could however, she suddenly ducked down, running towards him low. Without giving him a second to even react, she grabbed him! Lifting him up, she threw him forwards with a shout.

"Rannnmmaaa!" Yuushi shouted as he flew through the air, flying through the open door to the dojo. _Wait, didn't we shut that-_ his thoughts were interrupted by impact.

"Watch where you're chucking things!" Nabiki shouted from underneath Yuushi. Ranma had managed to throw him out of the dojo and on top of Nabiki. He had landed on her back, standing up he realized she was holding her camera. Or at least she was until Ranma ran over and snatched it out of Nabiki's hands.

"Knew it! No way you wouldn't try and get some shots of me like this." Ranma said, twirling the camera on her finger. Nabiki shot up to try and grab it back, but Ranma easily avoided it without any effort on her part.

"Wait… did you do this all as some stupid trap!" Yuushi said.

"Err…" Ranma froze up, "Look, Yuushi, I really did-"

"I really should have known. This stupid argument with Nabiki is the only reason you'd do something like this." Yuushi growled, "Yeah I get it Ranma. I suck. Thanks for rubbing it in by using me as bait."

"It wasn't like that you idiot! I just thought-"

"I don't care what you say you thought!" Yuushi said, turning around and walking back towards the house.

"Well Saotome, this has all been a cute little drama." Nabiki brushed the dirt off her, "Now give me my camera back."

"Not until you promise not to sell any more photos." Ranma said, stepping back from Nabiki.

"I didn't say anything about negotiations Saotome. You'll give me back my camera."

"You're right, there aren't any negotiations. You'll stop this or else you're not getting it back." Ranma said, "So get used to me holding onto this Nabiki."

"Do you really want to be my enemy Ranma?" Nabiki asked.

"You started it." Ranma said.

"Not in the slightest, but I'll finish it Saotome. If I don't have it back by tomorrow, I'm going to make you regret it." She said with a angelic smile.

Ranma rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah. Whatever. You can have it back once I have your word."

* * *

Yuushi wasn't speaking to her, instead every time she had approached him he had glanced to the camera hanging from a lanyard around her neck. Once he had noticed it was there he had rolled his eyes and walked ahead, not saying anything.

She didn't understand it. Shouldn't he be happy about this? She was standing up for him! She gave him a scowl as he continued to ignore her through dinner and the rest of the day. She went through her usual morning routine of fighting her father off and eating breakfast… when she noticed something odd.

"Wait, where's Yuushi?" She realized that Yuushi hadn't even been around to give her the cold shoulder.

"He went off to school a while ago Ranma." Kasumi answered, "Said he wanted to do some morning practice."

"He what? He hardly ever goes to morning practice!" She knew that the handful of times he had done so he had asked her to come along.

"Well he decided to go today." Kasumi answered as she began washing the breakfast dishes.

"That stupid annoying jerk!" Ranma said with a growl, "Why is he mad about this?"

Kasumi shrugged, "Yuushi and Nabiki seemed to have worked out some things, you kind of jumped into the middle of it and disrupted their relationship."

"Well what about me? What about my feelings in this matter?"

Kasumi sighed, "Nabiki doesn't care about your feelings Ranma. And Yuushi's more worried about his sister being angry then having pictures taken. You're in the right, yes, but I think you went about this the wrong way."

"Whatever, this is going to end with Nabiki agreeing or she's never getting this camera back!" Ranma shouted, before running out to school.

Kasumi let out another sigh. "You could have talked to me about it." Kasumi could have gotten Nabiki to stop, she knew better than to go against the one who cooked her meals. But now Ranma had made it a point of pride for Nabiki, there's no way either of them would be giving up any time soon.

* * *

Ranma walked to school alone again. This time it felt different, knowing Yuushi had just ditched her. "Oh what do I care! This is stupid! Who cares what he thinks!"

"Ohohohoho! Such a pitiful sight, a peasant such as yourself fuming over the barest of chastisements."

Ranma looked up and groaned, Kodachi was standing on a streetlight, looking down at her and laughing. "Wow, you're up and walking. Guess I didn't beat your stalker ass hard enough."

"Such pitiful blows didn't even slightly injure me!" Kodachi said.

"Hmm… well I hit your head a lot, guess there's nothing there to hurt." Ranma turned around and continued walking.

"You dare turn your back on me!" Kodachi pulled out her ribbon, flicking it down at her.

Without turning around, Ranma reached behind her and grabbed the ribbon before it could touch her. She didn't pull, not wanting to risk an explosive. "I'm a bit surprised you managed to get out of that… love chain… so easily, did you have another key?"

"Humph! You really think you could trap me so easily! I have many ways out of my own devices!"

* * *

" _Faster Sasuke!" Kodachi yelled to the diminutive Ninja hastily running a small file over the shackle chaining her in place._

" _Lady Kodachi, those hoops of yours could easily cut them! Perhaps I could get one and-" Sasuke began to protest before being interrupted by a soft chuckle from Kodachi._

" _Now my dear Sasuke." Kodachi said, gently patting him on the head. "We both know the rules about touching your betters possessions." She spoke in the gentle tones of a mother correcting a child. "If you take my hoop, what happens the next time things might be a little 'easier' if you just grab something of ours? Why, next thing you know you'll be eating off my plates and sleeping in my beds and the entire master and servant boundary will cease to exist. We wouldn't want that now would we?"_

" _No Lady Kodachi." Sasuke said._

" _Good!" She patted him on the head one more time, "Now hurry up, remember you're not getting paid for this so you'd better hurry so you can get to your actual job!"_

* * *

"Whatever." Ranma let go of the ribbon before continuing to walk away, "I have school, don't you?"

"Some things are more important than morning class!" Kodachi shouted, throwing more ribbon attacks at Ranma.

Ranma didn't grab them, instead she jumped ahead of each swing, letting the ribbon hit the ground. With a snarl Kodachi continued to swing, but Ranma just leapt ahead each time, continuing on her way to school without even sparing Kodachi a glance. This just made her angrier, her attacks becoming faster and fiercer. "How dare you insult me like this you wretched woman! First you dare try to stop me from seeing all of my beloved Yuushi's form and ability… now you mock me like this with base trickery!"

This caused Ranma to stop, she turned around and glared at Kodachi "What are you talking abou-oof!" Then a ball hit her in the face, causing her to fly through the gates of Furinkan, before hitting the school wall. She pulled herself off the wall, brushing herself off before glancing back up at Kodachi, who was now on the wall surrounding the school. "What are you talking about?"

"I heard it from Nabiki Tendo! Your scheme to have Yuushi all to yourself!" Kodachi twirled her ribbon around her, "I will not allow such a crime to stand!"

"Right. Well that answers that question on what Nabiki's going to be doing." Ranma said, "Well, thanks for answering! See you later."

"No! I will not let this end!"

Ranma shrugged, "Suit yourself." With a quick flick of her wrist she flung her bookbag at Kodachi's face, it flew ture, hitting her right on the nose. Then Ranma rushed in towards Kodachi, jumping up onto the fence along side her, with a shout she kicked the ribbon out of her hands, and took note that this one had no explosives. With a grin she grabbed the ribbon out of the air, twirling it around herself and with another flick wrapping it around Kodachi.

"W-what is this?" Kodachi said, Ranma's bookbag falling off her face into Ranma's free hand.

"This is me going to school." Ranma said, pressing a button she had noticed on the ribbon's handle, immediately a large amount of electricity shot through the ribbon into Kodachi. Ranma jumped down off the fence in time with Kodachi, twitching with smoke coming off her clothing, fell face first onto the ground.

Then water hit her in the side.

Ranma turned to look the left, Nabiki was holding a hose and smiling. She gave him a thumbs up. "Morning Saotome!"

"There you are!" Kuno jumped from behind a tree, "I knew you would reveal yourself eventually! Cease this attempt to hold my beloved away from me!"

Ranma's eye twitched, "Listen you sicko! Stop trying to get photos of me, it's creepy!"

"I have no desire for any photos of you, my desire is only for tokens of my beloved Ranma!"

Ranma almost screamed that he was Ranma, but decided not to say something like that in front of the school. "Just… I need to go to class…"

"I would never permit such a craven scoundrel such as yourself to darken the halls of this school!" Kuno shouted, charging with bokken in hand.

"Damn it!" Ranma growled.

* * *

"You OK?" Yuka asked.

It was lunch time, after fighting off Kuno and sneaking into a bathroom to change back, Ranma had naturally ended up late to class. Holding up those buckets was obnoxious. "It was a rough morning."

"You didn't come in with Yuushi I noticed." Yuka was in the same class as her, so she had noticed that Yuushi had come in on time.

"Yeah." Ranma opened her lunchbox, pulling out the chopsticks, "Me and Nabiki are having a fight and he got all prissy about it."

"Sounds rough." Yuka said.

"Well, it's nothing I can't hand...le…" Ranma was about to start eating when she noticed a group gathering in front of her.

"Uh…" Yuka noticed it too, "Ranma? Why are the Rugby Club, the Judo Club, the Archery Club, and the Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts club here?"

"I have no idea." Ranma waved to the clubs, "Hey, I'm already in the Kendo Club! So no recruit-"

" **We challenge you, Ranma Saotome!"**

"What the he-" Was all she got to say before the horde descended on her.

* * *

With an uppercut the last attacker fell, Ranma wondered just what was going on.. First the Kunos… now this?

Yuka, of course, had been sitting still, her eyes wide in shock as Ranma just decimated them. Granted, they hadn't been organized, but still, to be able to handle such a large group like that… it was the first time she had seen her friend do that. "Wow, that was amazing."

"What exactly was that about!?" Ranma said.

"Ooohhh too bad! Oh well, try again tomorrow everybody!"

Ranma's head snapped to the left, seeing Nabiki standing a short distance away counting money. "What are you doing?"

"Oh. Hey there Saotome!" Nabiki waved, "Just a new money making plan I hatched up. 'Ranma vs. The World!" She said with a overly dramatic flair, "For the low price of five hundred yen they can join in changeling to see if they can defeat you. If so then they win the pot! Of course, I take a reasonable cut as organizer."

Ranma stared at Nabiki, "That's… what…. why…?"

"Well, I need to find a new source of income since photo profits dried up." Nabiki said, "I mean, you yourself said you're not going to let me take any more." She grinned, "So fine, I'll promise to stop taking photos of you, just know that this is going to keep up every day. The pot will get bigger and bigger, you know? Imagine what people will try to do to beat you once it hits critical mass."

"I never agreed to this!" Ranma said.

"You never turn down a challenge, no? Consent is implied, unless you're going to refuse, accept a loss by default and all." Nabiki tucked the wad of cash into a purse, "If not, see you Saotome."

"Well… uh… I can get the pot right!"

"Can you defeat yourself?" Nabiki answered with a wave.

Then the bell signifying the end of lunch rang, Ranma not having gotten to eat a single bite.

* * *

A crowd had gathered around the kendo club. Yuushi found this odd. Girls had long stopped coming over to the club to ogle him, a kenbogu wasn't exactly revealing clothing, and there were a bunch of guys too.

"Wait… that's the Sumo club…" Yuushi counted the people and realized around half of the school's athletic clubs (and the chemistry club for some reason he could not fathom) had gathered around his clubs dojo. Then he heard a resigned sigh behind him, glancing back he saw the source of the sigh was Ranma. To his annoyance she still had Nabiki's camera around her neck. "Ranma?"

"Out of the way Yuushi." Ranma snapped, stepping ahead of him. "Oy! You all want a piece of me for Tendo's stupid blood money!" Her face had a wild grin, "Or do you just think this is a good challenge eh?" She ran towards the crowd, with a shout they leapt on her.

Yuushi's jaw dropped at the sight. The first ones to fall were the Sumo Club, thinking that they could surround Ranma and hold her down. She didn't let them, lashing out with elbows and knees she hit each one in a painful disabling point. When they fell around her the Hockey Club, on roller blades, charged towards her. She didn't let up, knocking one back with a palm strike to the head, she ripped the hockey stick out of his hands and twirled it around like a naginata, knocking them back on their rollerblades into the Soccer Club. Running straight into the horde, she continued to use her new weapon quite effectively. Knocking the Dance Club silly, it was almost like a wild dance itself, having cleared a path she moved forward, her improvised weapon shattered knocking one member of the Weightlifting Club out, but this gave another the opportunity to grab her arms and pull them back.

Two members of the Boxing Club moved up to hit her while she was restrained. If this bothered Ranma she didn't show it, she threw her leg up, knocking one of the boxers out with a snap kick to the chin, spinning around on one foot she threw the guy attempting to hold her off balance. This let her break free and knock him to the ground with a powerful blow with her elbow. The remaining boxers and weightlifters rushed her at once. Ranma changed strategy, switching to a Tai Chi based form Yuushi recognized, now she was throwing the club members into each other, directing their punches into each other. Within a short time they crumpled, and Ranma stood alone surrounded by the battered remains of the club members.

"Wow, I think that was around a third of the athletic clubs." Yuushi said.

"Huh, I guess I beat up the other two thirds earlier today." Ranma commented, "You really think they'll be back tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Nabiki's set up some kind of betting pool thing. Any of these guys beat me and they win the pot." Ranma did some numbers in her head, "I think it's hit seventy thousand. Maybe more."

"Seriously?"

"Well, you know she's going to take a cut, I dunno how much these idiots would win."

"Knowing Nabiki it's a ninety percent cut." Yuushi said.

"Probably…" Ranma said with a groan, stretching out after that exercise. She glanced over to Yuushi, a faint smile forming. "So… ah…"

"Wait… this is probably Nabiki's little revenge thing isn't it." Yuushi said, his annoyance returning.

"Oh come on Yuushi! Surely this is enough! You're not still mad?" Ranma shouted, "I don't get why-"

Then everything exploded around them.

"We did it! That prize money is ours!"

"Brains over brawn! The Chemistry Club wins again!"

"What about Tendo?"

"Ehhh he's collateral damage."

The smoke cleared, and Ranma and Yuushi were both unharmed, somehow. Ranma had held the camera above her head to keep it from getting damaged, while Yuushi just slowly glanced over to the Chemistry Club.

"What!?"

"I thought those concussive mines would work!"

"I tested them myself! Those things could knock out an elephant!"

" **Run!"** The wannabe mad scientists scattered from Yuushi's glare. Once they were gone Yuushi turned back to his own club's building. "Look… Ranma, we can talk after practice, OK?" Yuushi opened the door to the club dojo…

"Tendo! Where are you hiding him! I know you and that crossdressing miscreant are scheming to keep tokens of my beloved from me! Your own sister has sold you out! Face me like a-" Yuushi slammed the door into Kuno's face.

"On second thought let's go home early and talk there."

* * *

Yuushi opened the fridge, pulling out two cans of juice, he tossed the other one to Ranma, "How about we talk in the dojo?"

Catching the can, she nodded and followed him.

"So, I guess Dad wasn't the only one affected by Mom's death." Yuushi said, "Did you know Kasumi used to be a slob?"

"Seriously?" Ranma opened up her can, it was orange juice.

"Yeah. Mom was always telling her to clean up… and well, she did once Mom died." Yuushi sighed. "I mean, not saying we were all completely different people. But it affected us, a bit."

"So what's the point of this?" Ranma downed half her can in a large gulp.

"Nabiki became, kind of obsessed with being all big and self reliant and getting money." Yuushi said, "She used to be really bad about it, lots of silly blackmail schemes, well more than she does now, until she got a bit over her head."

"What happened?"

"She pissed off some high school seniors when she was still a middle school student." Yuushi said, "I had to kind of protect her."

"And this didn't get her to stop!"

"She charged me for butting in." Yuushi said, causing Ranma to spit up some of her juice. "Anyways, my point is that, um, I don't really stop her because I can't. She just does her own thing, and she's stubborn in her own way." He shrugged, "So I work with her, a bit. Haven't you noticed that Kodachi doesn't barge into my house every minute of the day? She helps out with that."

Ranma closed her eyes in thought. "I understand now Yuushi."

Yuushi smiled, "Good. Maybe now we can-"

"You're in on it! How much of a cut does she give you!" Ranma shouted, before getting hit with the forehead by Yuushi's juice can, the remaining of the juice spilling over her triggering the curse.

"Never mind!" Yuushi shouted, leaving Ranma in the dojo.

"Damn it. Now I'm going to have to take another bath." Ranma grumbled.


	10. Loving and Losing

To Ranma's great surprise, the gate to school had changed, just a bit.

Namely there was a massive artificial jungle in front of the school.

A guy poked out from behind a fake tree, holding out a megaphone, "Ranma Saotome! We, the Furinkan High Survival Games club, challenge you!"

Yuushi still wasn't walking with her to school so with a sigh she marched in alone.

**Episode 10: Loving and Losing**

Every day in the Kendo Club they followed a pattern. Kuno would be beaten off by Ranma or Yuushi, and the actual practice would begin.

Drills, drills, and more drills. As a student of Martial Arts, Ranma was used to constant repetitive drills. Once the daily drills were done they partnered off to actually match against each other.

Ranma had, of course, picked up Kendo quickly, to the point where the only people she could spar with were Kuno and Yuushi. Kuno of course was out which left Yuushi as her main partner for Kendo. There wasn't much talking, just the loud clacking of shinai hitting each other.

Ranma was, of course, a speed demon. Yuushi could not keep up in the slightest. It was only the rigid forms of Kendo that let Yuushi pull off the amazing feat of standing up to her..

Plus Ranma was distracted, that helped for today at least.

With a final snap Yuushi got in the second hit he needed to win their spar.

"And done. Practice is over Ranma." Yuushi announced in his captain voice.

Ranma was, of course, scowling at the loss. She pulled off her men and groaned. "Damn it."

"Well that's my win I guess Ranma." Yuushi couldn't help but smirk. Ranma's continuous blind spot in Kendo that let Yuushi win more matches than not was an endless source of entertainment for him.

"Yeah yeah fine El Capitan." She grumbled, "Don't rub it in. One day I'll figure out the trick to this sport."

"Maybe I'm just naturally better at Kendo then you?" Yuushi said with a grin, in response Ranma smacked him on the head with her shinai.

"Maybe your heads getting too big Yuushi." Ranma said, her mood not improving when he just laughed.

"So, have you managed to kick enough of the student's body behinds for Nabiki to have to find a new scam?" Yuushi asked.

"No idea." Ranma said.

An awkward silence followed, Yuushi wanted to try suggesting that Ranma try and make peace, but even bringing it up would bring another screaming argument. "So…. how about we go home?"

"Look if you…" Ranma trained off when she realized that Yuushi wasn't starting another argument. "Y-yeah. Home sounds good. Let's get changed and head home…"

"Tell you what… once things settle down a little, I buy you lunch, my treat." Yuushi said.

Ranma's eyes bulged out, "Eh…? Wh-what? I… Uh…. what?"

Yuushi frowned, "Lunch? You know. Something you like? I know a good burger place where-"

"Tendo!" Kuno jumped between them, "How dare you! Who gave you permission to ask Ranma on a date!" He pointed his own shinai at Yuushi. "I, the Shining Light of Furinkan High will not permit it!"

"D-date? It's not a date damn it!" Yuushi shouted.

"Ranma!" Kuno grabbed Ranma's hands, "My love, do not listen to this swine's honeyed words. Come! Date with me! It shall be a passionate, beautiful display of the purest love! Together we shall throw off the shackles of Tendo and that vile miscreant that even now holds the tokens of our love hostage!"

Ranma's eye twitched, "I… am… not...dating anyone!" She shouted, before kicking Kuno through the ceiling and out of the kendo club. "Especially you!" She glared at Yuushi.

"I wasn't asking you on a date!" Yuushi shouted, "Who the hell would want to take you on a date anyways!"

Ranma stepped back, her frown deepening, "I just kicked out a guy who did you moron!"

"Oh yeah, Kuno, good catch. I guess a guy does have to be crazy to want you!" With a loud snap, Yuushi's head was knocked to the side… Ranma had slapped him. He rubbed the red mark on his cheek.

"You… you… I can't believe I ever wanted to help you…" She said.

"I never wanted it!" Yuushi snapped back, before being knocked over by Ranma stomping past him to the changing stalls.

* * *

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." It was night time at the Tendo household, and Kodachi was standing outside its walls. It was a dark night, storm clouds covered the stars. It might rain soon, all the better to set up her vengeance! "It's been a long time since I've had cause to grace my future husbands home." Kodachi liked to deliver soliloquies, after all as far as she was concerned she was the heroine of this grand play called life, so why not play it up to the audience?

"Alas, every day I know my beloved wastes his life in this hovel, yet I am forced by matters of the heart to let him! Ahhh he is so noble! Living the an honorable life of poverty to prepare himself spiritually!" It should be noted that the Tendos are in no way poor, they'd best be described as "Upper Middle Class;" living very comfortably off wise investments by Soun supplemented by martial arts classes he taught. Kodachi just has a skewed view of wealth

"But now… now! I know not what scheme that red haired harridan has conjured up! An attempt to bind my beloved in a false engagement! And to top it off, this final indignity… to hold my beloved hostage in such a way… to keep me from obtaining even the slightest token of my love… unforgivable!" In her hands was none other than the Kuno family blade! She had managed to steal it from her brothers room, and if **he** could use a sword then she should have no problem! "With this… that wretched Ranma will pay! And me and Yuushi can finally embrace and be as true lovers should! Ohohohohohoho! **OHOHOHOHOHOHO!"**

A young family walking by for an evening stroll winced as they walked past the laughing girl.

"Mommy." Their young daughter said, "She's scary…"

"Just ignore her and hope she doesn't notice us dear."

* * *

"Stupid Yuushi. Stupid Nabiki. Stupid Kuno…"

Ranma flipped the camera between her hands. This entire plan had seemed so simple, except nobody seemed to be playing along.

Especially Yuushi! Why that idiot wasn't thanking her was beyond Ranma's understanding.

Well, maybe Ranma had acted rashly. Maybe she should have talked to Yuushi and Kasumi about it Or maybe she should have punched Nabiki in the face, damn the guilt and the lecture Genma would inevitably give her.

With a sigh, she sat up, still holding the camera. "This has gone on long enough." She needed to go talk to the residents of the house she was staying in, work out some kind of accor-

"Ranma Saotome, prepare yourself!"

Ranma lept to the side as Kodachi dropped from the ceiling and stabbed a katana into her tuton.

"Why are you in my room? **How** did you get in my room?" Ranma said, "Damn it Kodachi!"

"Enough Saotome! Today I end this farce! You will surrender all claims on my beloved, and release the tokens of my love!" Kodachi pulled the sword out of the futon and shakily pointed it at Ranma, "Or else I shall be forced to use drastic measures!"

Ranma groaned, "Kodachi, have you ever used a sword in your life?"

"I have the blood of samurai in me Saotome! Mastery of the sword is in my very being! If my fool brother can do it, one such as myself can easily accomplish it." Kodachi said.

"That's a no then." Ranma said with a groan. This was **exactly** what she needed. A lunatic swinging around a katana. "Please put it down before you hurt yourself."

"Do not try and distract me temptress! I strike!" Kodachi raised the sword over her head and swung it down in a poor imitation of a kendo swing. Ranma of course, easily dodged it. She dodged the next swing following that. "Hold still you harridan!"

"Oh yes that's a great idea I'll let you gut me. Wait no. That's stupid." Ranma said, "Also, your swing is wrong and any minute now that thing is going to fly out of your hands."

"Do not speak to me in such a way peasant!" Kodachi said, raising up the sword again. "I will strike you down!" She swung the sword, Ranma dodged, and it flew out of her hands… embedding itself into the ceiling. Kodachi stared up at her sword, her mouth hanging open.

"Yeah. Like I said." Ranma pointed to the katana.

"Words cannot describe the loathing I feel towards you." Kodachi said.

"That's a surprise, with the way you blabber on about nothing I figured you'd have a big enough vocabulary for it." Ranma said.

Kodachi jumped up and pulled the sword from the ceiling. "Die!"

* * *

"Hey, Nabiki, you in here?"

Nabiki looked up from her manga, "Well hello there Yuushi."

Yuushi dropped a ticket over Nabiki's book, "Pay up."

"Pardon?"

"I beat Ranma today, I bought into this dumb revenge thing. So pay up." Yuushi said.

Nabiki frowned, shutting the book. "Look. Yuushi, I don't think managing to hit Ranma twice with a stick before she beats you into next week counts as beating her."

Yuushi slapped one of the flyers Nabiki had set up on her bed. "It says all I have to do is beat Ranma. Heck, it actually doesn't say anything about beating her in a fight at all! I could have challenged her to checkers and it would check out."

Nabiki picked up the paper, "Damn. You have a point. Fine… let me just take my cut. I think 50% should be reasonable…."

"Twenty." Yuushi said.

"I'm not made of money here." Nabiki glared at her brother. Sadly, he wasn't effected it quite as much as some other saps had been. "Oh, fine. Because you're family." She opened up her lockbox, pulled out the cash and handed it to Yuushi.

"I know you got more bets than that Nabiki."

With a roll of her eyes Nabiki pulled out the rest of the money Yuushi had somewhat won and handed it over. "Well, I hope you're happy." She opened the manga back up and started reading… only to notice that Yuushi had not left. "What **now?"**

"You're going to stop this petty little revenge now." Yuushi said.

"Revenge? My dear brother. I would never stoop so low as to get petty revenge." Nabiki said.

Yuushi didn't even bother to give that statement a response. "You're also going to stop selling pictures of Ranma. It's one thing to do it to me. I don't care. But Ranma's a guest."

"I thought you were taking my side in this little debate me and Saotome were having?" Nabiki said with a frown.

"It's irritating me, OK? Plus, come on, you already get enough snack funds from Kodachi."

"Give me one good reason why I should even begin to compromise."

"If you don't, I'll get Kasumi." Yuushi said with a smirk.

"Oh you would not **dare** Yuushi."

"I dare. If you want to wear clean underwear ever again, I suggest we come to an agreement." Yuushi was giving her a triumphant smirk.

 _Huh, so he actually cares about her after all._ Nabiki thought. After all, Yuushi had actually brought out the big guns. Threatening to bring in Kasumi for their disputes was an extreme last resort act. One which both Tendos knew could only be used sparingly, for maximum impact. Here Yuushi had brought it out as the opening salvo.

Still, Nabiki still had her pride. "Come on Yuushi. Kuno pays big bucks for these and it's not like Ranma doesn't beat his ass into the pavement on a daily basis."

"What about the other horny guys who are going to be drooling over her?" Yuushi said.

"Why should you care?"

"Damn it Nabiki, she's a guest!"

"Right right. Guest. Got it." Nabiki said, a grin forming. "But you know I'm going to have to ask for a compromise. At the very least, I want to see if I can get Kuno-baby to actually fund my college education."

Yuushi frowned at the appearance of her grin. "Well…. I guess Kuno is pretty harmless. I mean, he's an idiot and a pervert, but he has this weird gentlemanly delusion about it all. But really, Kuno was the entire reason Ranma was upset about it!" He was beginning to think bringing out Kasumi first was a bad idea, now Nabiki was going to demand compromise because he had nothing else for leverage. "Come on? How would you feel if somebody was selling photos of you?"

"I'd find the price they were charging and undercut them." Nabiki said without an ounce of shame.

Yuushi should have known an appeal to empathy would fail. "...ugg… fine. As long as not a single other person gets a single photo of her, OK? If you promise that, I'll convince Ranma."

"Sure thing my cute little brother. The minute I have a camera again I'll let up on Ranma and only let Kuno-baby have candid shots. I'll even be able to triple the price since they're exclusive now!" Nabiki said.

Then a katana exploded through Nabiki's door, sailing through the air between brother and sister, and embedded itself in the wall.

Nabiki and Yuushi stared wide eyed at the sword that just entered Nabiki's room. Then her door was kicked open and a madwoman charged in laughing.

"Damn it Kodachi give it back!" Ranma shouted, jumping in after the deranged Kuno.

Somehow while Ranma and Kodachi had been running around the Tendo home, Ranma evading Kodachi's wild swings and Kodachi pulling the sword out from walls, Kodachi had managed to get ahold of the camera. Jumping across the room, she pulled the sword out of the wall. The blade in one hand and the camera in the other.

"I know know what trickery you use to disarm me Saotome, but it will not work!" She pointed the sword in what she thought was a dramatic thrust at Ranma. In reality it was far too shaky to look threatening. She rose the sword above her head, "I shall strike you down like the demon you are!" She jumped forward, ready to attack! She swung her arm down… and noticed that she no longer had a sword in her hand. "Huh?"

Yuushi had snuck behind Kodachi, plucking the sword from her hand.

"Y-Y-Yuushi… darling… what brings you here."

"I live here." Yuushi said, and Kodachi swooned. With a gentle smile, Yuushi took Kodachi in her arms, carrying her bridal style. "Kodachi?"

"Y-yes…?" Kodachi said.

Meanwhile Ranma was scowling. Suddenly beating up both Yuushi and Kodachi at once was seeming like a great idea. "Yuushi…." She growled.

If Yuushi heard Ranma, he didn't give any indication of it. Instead, that kind and sweet smile was still on his face. He looked down at Kodachi in his arms. "You know what I've said before."

"I… I've forgotten… darling…"

Yuushi nodded in understanding, "I'll help you remember." Then, with the gentleness of a mother praising her child… he threw Kodachi out the window. " **Stay out of my house!"** He sighed with relief, "Well that problem's solved…"

Then Ranma slapped him on the back of the head. "You idiot! She has the camera!"

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were too busy flirting with her!"

"I was not flirting!"

"Oh so you just naturally hold swooning girls in your arms?"

"I threw her out the window!"

Ranma and Yuushi both looked ready to start inflicting violence on the other.

"Far from me to interrupt this wonderful debate." Nabiki spoke up, "But she has my camera."

"Oh crap!" Ranma shouted, jumping out the window after Kodachi.

* * *

The rain came down over the house, and Kodachi laughed.

She had jumped up to the Tendo roof, and was laughing at the fortune the gods had granted her.

"Ah… to be embraced by my beloved! Ohhh his many passions were so intense! Yet…. yet he knew he could not sully my honor until the wedding night, no matter how much we desire it! So… so he forced me away from him, all for my sake!" She didn't care that she was in a leotard in the rain, her love for Yuushi would overcome mere weather!

"Ah but what to do with this?" She didn't know why Ranma wanted the camera currently in her hands, but she imagined it was for some foul and perverse purpose!

"Kodachi!"

An unknown voice called out her name. Who was it? Kodachi wondered who the unknown man calling her could be… someone sent by Ranma to attack her? No! She would not allow defeat! She would retreat for now, store away her trophy, and return to her love to retrieve the family sword! And then once she was alone with Yuushi they would… they would…!

Laughing maniacally, Kodachi rebuked the unseen man coming towards her. "You think you can contain the Black Rose! Fools! I shall return for my love!" With another laugh she moved to jump off the roof… and slipped. The rain made her footing slick, and before Kodachi knew it she was falling headfirst towards the ground. The camera slipped out of her hands, and Kodachi watched wide eyed as the ground approached closer and closer…

A strong hand grabbed her ankle, and she stopped falling.

"You OK?" She heard that male voice call out, before with one hand pulling her up! Kodachi gasped at his strength. He let go once she was safely back on the roof. She pulled herself up and turned to thank her savior.

"I…" Kodachi was left speechless at the gorgeous man standing in front of her. His fairly long dark hair was soaked by the rain, and Kodachi could see every muscle underneath his oddly tight clothing. "I… I thank you!" She shouted and hugged him.

"Ack! Um… yeah… thanks? Look, Kodachi… let me go."

"Oh I can't just let my savior go without a proper reward!" Kodachi said.

"Well… how about the cam-"

"Oh I know!" Kodachi pulled out a bouquet of black roses, "Here, accept this humble gift." She shoved the roses in his face.

"Uh… thanks?" He said, before the paralysis gas came over his face. Her savior fell on his back, unable to move.

"There we go!" Kodachi said happily, "Now… my handsome young savior… it is time for your real reward." She leaned down towards his lips. Why, with the way his eyes were twitching it was almost like he didn't want this! But that's a silly thought, no man could ever not want her. He must be restraining his passions like her beloved Yuushi.

Closer…. and closer to him, soon he would taste her perfect kisses!

Then she fell unconscious from a hard hit to the head.

"Sister! Where did you hide away the family sword!" Kuno shouted at his unconscious sister, not noticing the person she was on top of. "Sister?" Kuno frowned, realizing that he had knocked Kodachi out. "Hah! It would seem my might is too fearsome… yes I must learn to control this terrible power, but first I must destroy Tendo!"

"Kuno!" Yuushi jumped up from the window to the roof. He had the umbrella in one hand and the Kuno Family Blade in the other. "Take your sister home!"

"Tendo!" Kuno snarled, "I come here not for the machinations of my twisted sister, I come to destroy you once and for all!"

Yuushi rolled his eyes, "Just take her home, and take this dumb sword with you." Yuushi tossed the sword in Kuno's direction, the blade embedding itself into the roof a short distance from Kuno.

"How dare you steal the sword of my ancestors Tendo!"

" **Take it and get off my house!"** Yuushi shouted. Kuno recoiled at the fire in Yuushi's eyes and considered that this might not be the best time to antagonise him.

"Humph. Very well Tendo." He picked up the sword and his still knocked out sister, "I shall be generous and spare you this day."

"Whatever. I'll kick your ass tomorrow Kuno." Yuushi said as Kuno left. He walked over to Ranma, noticing the bouquet laying next to him. "Word of advice Ranma; never accept a gift from Kodachi." Bending over he picked him up, "It'll wear off in a minute or so. So, where's the camera?"

Ranma's eyes bulged out, he struggled to speak. "Fall… it… it fell!"

Yuushi's own eyes widened.

* * *

Ranma and Yuushi stared at the broken, waterlogged remains of Nabiki's camera. There was no hope of salvaging it. The lens was cracked, and water had filled the entire device.

"Oh crap." Ranma finally said.

"Oh?" A cold voice made both Ranma and Yuushi shudder. "Is that mine, Saotome?"

Ranma tried to hide the camera behind his back, "I, uh, er…. look! It's Kodachi's fault!"

"If you hadn't taken it, then she wouldn't have had the opportunity to break it." Nabiki said simply.

"L-look! OK! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break it! I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

A smile formed on Nabiki's face. "Oh. Very well then. I have an idea."

* * *

A click and a flash, and Ranma wiped the fake smile from her face.

"Very good Saotome, you look adorable I must say."

There were times when Ranma cursed being naturally short. Nabiki taking photos of her in a middle schoolers uniform, her hair done in a cute side ponytail was one of those times.

"Oh, Kuno-baby's going to love this." Nabiki said with a smile.

"How much did that camera cost?" Ranma asked, her tone desperate.

"Hmm… can't remember." Nabiki said, "I'll have to check the receipt later." She made a mental note to find a way to break this new camera before Ranma could pay off her current debt. Or perhaps she could use accounting tricks and pile all her business costs onto the 'Ranma photo sales' budget and make it so that on paper she only made a single yen profit per session. She could easily do both, she reasoned. "Still, I think it worked out for the best, now smile and give me a V-sign!"

Back on went the fake smile, more clicking as Nabiki took cute photo after cute photo. Finally the door opened, and Yuushi entered Nabiki's room.

"Are you done?" Yuushi asked.

"Almost." Nabiki said, pulling out two swimsuits. One a daring bikini and the other a school swimsuit. "Next we have the swimsuit photos. Since I'm feeling generous Ranma, I'll let you pick which one you want to wear."

Ranma's eyes twitched. "Which one will have Kuno drooling less?"

"Can't say. One one hand the bikini will, well, expose a lot to him. But the school swimsuit will scratch his purity fetish." Nabiki said casually.

"Damn it the school swimsuit then. At the very least I'm going to minimize the skin Kuno sees." Ranma snatched the swimsuit out of Nabiki's hands and stood up to head to her room to change.

"Hey, uh, Ranma?" Yuushi asked.

"What?" Ranma asked.

"Err, well, remember that offer? How about we get some lunch after you're done?"

Ranma was quiet, thinking about Yuushi's offer. "Sure, why not. See you later then." She left the room.

"Asking her on a date, how bold." Nabiki said with a sly grin.

"It's not a date Nabiki!"

"Fine whatever…. so I'm guessing you don't want her to go dressed up in that uniform huh?"

"N-no I don't!" Yuushi shouted. No way did he want to go out somewhere with Ranma while she was dressed like that!

Even if she did look really cute.

 _Especially_ if she looked really cute!

* * *

Yuushi knew it wasn't a date. Yet he was still a little disappointed. Because Ranma had not only changed out of any remotely cute outfit to head back to the normal chinese clothing she wore… but she had also changed into a guy.

"So why are you…?"

Ranma gave Yuushi a raised eyebrow as he sipped his shake, "So it's not a date. Just two guys."

"It's not a date in the first place! I just wanted to apologize!" Yuushi groaned, couldn't Ranma accept he just wanted to be a little nice?

"Plus… girls can't eat greasy burgers like this." Ranma said with a grin, "We'd get fat." To emphasize he took a big bite out of the pile of cheese, bacon, and beef that was somehow held in a bun.

“Ranma, you are the last person to worry about gaining weight.” Yuushi said, “You get more then enough exercise. Hell, I’m wondering how on earth you even have any spare body fat for-” He stopped himself as he realized that this conversation was not on a safe topic.

"For what?" Ranma asked.

"Err…." Yuushi tried to figure out a way to ask how Ranma managed to have such large breasts in his natural gender without it ending in Ranma murdering him. Or at the very least a distraction to make Ranma forget the line of conversation.

Then a massive hole exploded out of the west wall of the restaurant. Yuushi briefly thanked any nearby god or other entity for the timely distraction. He and Ranma turned to look at the source of the explosion, even as other people stood up in panic.

The dust cleared, and Yuushi saw that it seemed that a person had caused the massive hole. He was a tall young man, dressed in a purple changshan with black pants. His long dark blue hair flowing behind him, his face a feral grin. In one hand, a heavy weapon Yuushi recognized as a chui, in the other a massive broadsword.

"It's been a while, Ranma." He said, "Get ready to die!"

Yuushi's glanced back at Ranma, who's eyes were wide with fear. "Oh… come on! What the hell are you doing here Soap?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "搜暴" - "Searching Violently" Sao Pu. Soap.


End file.
